An epic duel ended in a tragic loss when No. 11 USC men’s volleyball fell to the No.18 California State University, Northridge Matadors 3-2 Wednesday night. 

The back-and-forth affair saw many shifts in momentum but ultimately swung the Matadors’ way as they were able to come up with points at crucial moments. The Trojans fell to 5-2 on the season.  

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“CSUN played some good volleyball,” said USC Head Coach Jeff Nygaard in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “They did some things that frustrated us. In real time, you just saw that play out.” 

To start, everything was going the Trojans’ way. They won the first set 25-21 behind 4 kills from freshman middle blocker Wes Smith. 

“[Smith] is a big beast,” Nygaard said. “He’s a dominant force in the middle, so you obviously want to put the ball in a place where we’re able to utilize him.” 

USC stayed hot for most of the second set, boasting a 24-22 lead, a point away from taking its second consecutive set and threatening to sweep the Matadors. 

That lead was largely due to strong play from redshirt junior opposite hitter Jack Deuchar. He led the Trojans with 7 kills during the set, the beginning of a solid game for Deuchar where he steadily contributed to the Trojan attack. 

“I think [Deuchar’s] mentality has leveled out in terms of what his expectations are for himself every day,” Nygaard said. “Today is him going out and doing what he does.” 

Despite Deuchar’s offensive outburst in the second set, the Trojans couldn’t close the deal. The Matadors came back and ultimately won the set 27-25, knotting the score at one set apiece. 

Losing the second set proved to be costly, as the Matadors carried the momentum from a hard-fought second-set win into the third, beating the Trojans 25-20 and taking a 2-1 lead with a vengeance. 

Sophomore outside hitter Dillon Klein felt the team needed more urgency during those pivotal middle sets. 

“We just can’t get complacent,” Klein said. “We can’t come into games thinking we’re just gonna blow our opponent out of the water. We need to take it more seriously in practice.” 

The Trojans were able to regroup for a strong fourth set, led by another solid frame from Deuchar, who had 4 kills to lead the Trojans to a 25-17 set win. 

But the momentum would swing in the Matadors’ favor one final time, as they pulled out a 15-10 win in the short fifth set to win the match 3-2. 

The Matadors were led by a big game from redshirt senior outside hitter Kyle Hobus, who is the brother of Trojans’ junior opposite hitter Luke Hobus. The Matador, Kyle Hobus, frustrated the Trojans all night, leading all scorers with 23 kills. 

Despite the sour result, a couple of positives for the Trojans were solid games from Klein and Deuchar. Each player had 17 kills and hit over .300 on the night, great production from the two veteran hitters. 

Deuchar was glad he and Klein were able to play their roles well, but the result left him longing for an even more balanced attack. 

“I’m glad that we could terminate on the high balls and the out-of-system situations, but our best games are when we set the middle,” Deuchar said.

Fortunately for the Trojans, an opportunity lay right in front of them to get out some of their frustration: a match the following day against Central State University. 

“Obviously, this is gonna sting for a little bit,” Deuchar said. “Yeah, it is exciting to get back on the court tomorrow.” 

Following the matchup against Central State, the Trojans will face UC San Diego twice next week, in La Jolla on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. and at the Galen Center on Friday night at 7 p.m.