After a disappointing weekend against No. 13 Stanford, No. 5 USC men’s volleyball looks to bounce back against rival No. 2 UCLA in its final two matches of the regular season. 

The Trojans (19-5, 7-3 MPSF) hope to snap what has become a three-game losing streak after losing to Pepperdine (17-7, 7-3) and then dropping back-to-back matches to the Cardinal (11-12, 4-6).

On Friday, USC lost to the Cardinal in a tough five-set loss, despite having three Trojans — freshman outside hitter Christian Connell, freshman outside hitter Sterling Foley and junior outside hitter Dillon Klein — who put up  double-digit kills in the match.

Stanford proved resilient, winning sets two, four and five with clutch kills by junior opposite hitter Moses Wagner. Even though the Trojans hit .600 with 12 kills in the final set, the Cardinal answers with a .591 clip and 14 kills to win 15-13.

“I thought that the first night out, there were some things that we could have done a little bit better, but I loved the response going into game two,” said 10th-year Head Coach Jeff Nygaard in an interview with the Daily Trojan.

Saturday, the Trojans dropped another match to the Cardinal in four tightly contested sets. Despite strong efforts from graduate middle blocker Guy Genis in the first set and Connell in the fourth set, the Trojans couldn’t convert multiple set points. USC showed grit and determination as a team in the dramatic fourth set, but ultimately lost 31-29.

“I was really stoked to see not just the guys on the bench, but the guys on the floor, anyone that subbed in, everyone went out and they played free,” Nygaard said.

USC now turns its attention to the current second-best men’s volleyball team in the nation, crosstown rivals UCLA (19-4, 9-1), for a two-match series. 

Unlike the Trojans, the Bruins are coming off back-to-back wins against No. 8 BYU (17-9, 5-5) this past weekend, improving their record to an impressive 19-4 overall this season. USC also beat the Cougars twice earlier in the season.

On paper, USC and UCLA have had very similar seasons, and the matches could go either way, especially if the Trojans are fully healthy. 

The matches will likely come down to USC and UCLA’s top players. 

For USC, Dillon Klein leads the way on offense, averaging 3.97 kills per set and an impressive .375 hitting percentage. Unfortunately, Klein has been dealing with an injury for the last four games, so his health will likely factor largely into the outcome of this game. He is expected to play against UCLA.  

On defense, the Trojans are led by seven-foot freshman middle blocker Parker Tomkinson, who has 92 blocks on the season — averaging 1.12 blocks per set.

For UCLA, redshirt junior outside hitter Cooper Robinson leads the way on offense, averaging 3.52 kills per set and a .380 hitting percentage — very similar to Klein’s numbers. Robinson also leads the Bruins in digs per set with 1.21. 

Junior middle blocker Cameron Thorne paces the team in blocks with 90 on the season — averaging 1.11 blocks per set. 

Nygaard said the Bruins are not afraid to “rip it” from the service line and how they often take “big boy cuts at the ball,” leading to a high-efficiency offense. 

He also discussed the Bruins’ “all-in” mentality from the service line and how they have won some games with a sheer ace count, but also lost some games because that mentality has led to numerous service errors. 

On the season, the Bruins have 1066 kills, a .367 hitting percentage, 167 service aces and 526 service errors — which showcases their mentality to “rip it” from the service line. 

As the Trojans prepare to face UCLA later this week, Nygaard talked about USC’s own mentality that they hope to embrace heading into the weekend.

“We’ve been training. We trust our systems. We trust our training,” Nygaard said. “It’s just go into the gym and play volleyball and have fun.”

The Trojans will close out their regular season with an away match at Pauley Pavilion on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and then a rematch at Galen Center on Saturday at 5 p.m.