Volleyball seeks revenge against Long Beach


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The men’s volleyball team will look for an upset when they take on No. 1 Long Beach State at the Galen Center Friday night.

This is the team’s second go-around this year. Back in January, Long Beach took down the Trojans 3-1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-17).

In the first set, USC (2-9, 2-7) showed they have what it takes to beat the No. 1 team in the nation by hitting .450. However, they would fall in the very next set with a -.033 hitting percentage.

For the match, the Trojans were outhit .377-.191 and out-blocked 14-9.

Playing more consistently is something the Trojans are still working toward.

“After every game we win, somehow we mentally slow it down,” head coach Jeff Nygaard said.

Long Beach State (10-2, 7-2) out-hits, out-serves, out-digs and out-blocks opponents. 6-foot-4 freshman outside hitter T.J. DeFalco leads the team with 183 kills. DeFalco was a two-time OC Register Player of the Year at Huntington Beach High School (2014-2015) and AVCA Boys’ High School Senior All-American last year.

Two outstanding middle blockers anchor the team. Six-foot-7 senior Taylor Gregory, a third-team Volleyball Magazine All-American last year entered the season as Long Beach State’s 9th all-time leading blocker with 427 total blocks. This year, he has already added 35 more blocks, tied for a team high. The co-leader is 6-foot-4 junior Bryce Yould. Combined this year, the two have amassed 70 block assists, 156 kills and a staggering .572 hitting percentage.

USC felt the full brunt force of their dominance in the first matchup this year when Gregory went off for 11 kills on 12 attempts (.917) and five blocks, while Yould added 11 kills on 16 attempts (.625) and six blocks.

In that match, the Trojans were missing their biggest blocking threat 6-foot-9 junior middle blocker Andy Benesh due to an early season back injury.

In Wednesday’s game against Cal State Northridge, a healthy Benesh showed signs of why he was named a preseason second-team All-American. In the span of six plays in the second set, Benesh garnered four blocks. He would finish the night with a match-high six.

“We’ve been focusing a ton on [blocking],” Nygaard said. “I think tonight the light bulb went on and clicked for a couple of players.”

The light bulb seemed to click for junior outside hitter Lucas Yoder who recorded 17 kills on 50 attempts and added four blocks. In contrast to earlier matches, Yoder looked comfortable calling for the ball and running the show on offense.

“[Yoder gave] a great performance.” Nygaard said. “He started getting a ton of kills in rhythm.”

To win on Friday night, the Men of Troy’s offense will have to be multidimensional to get around Long Beach State’s big blockers.

No question, a win over Long Beach State would catalyze the rest of USC’s season.