B1G Matchups ahead for Men’s Volleyball
In their final, and perhaps toughest, challenge before conference play begins on Feb. 15, the No. 10 USC men’s volleyball team travels to Happy Valley this week for the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge. It features two tough matchups for the Trojans against No. 4 Penn State and No. 13 Ohio State at Rec Hall in State College, Pennsylvania. USC will play the Nittany Lions on Friday and the Buckeyes on Saturday.
The Trojans are looking to build a winning streak following back-to-back wins against No. 12 UC Santa Barbara and CSU Northridge. Ohio State is also on a win streak, having won five straight matches. On the other hand, Penn State is looking to rebound after suffering their first loss against Long Beach State in their most recent match. The Trojans are 3-6 against the Nittany Lions at Rec Hall all-time (20-11 overall), and they haven’t beaten Penn State on their own floor since 2000. To turn the tide, the Trojans will aim to control what they can.
“What we do in the practice gym translates to what happens on the floor,” said Head Coach Jeff Nygaard in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “We need to know and believe that our normal, our average, can compete at a high level, and then we go in there and build upon that.”
USC has a better record of 19-6 all-time against Ohio State, but lost their last meeting against the Buckeyes 3-1 in the very same tournament last season. With these being the final two games before a week off, and then the beginning of conference play, Coach Nygaard emphasized the importance of the lessons this weekend will teach.
“It’s a ramp up to see where we are,” Nygaard said. “We have next week off … that was built in there purposely for us to go ‘OK, we have to reset, we have to go over these things.’”
One player that will likely be key for the Trojans to pull off big wins all weekend is graduate transfer Kevin Kobrine. Kobrine, an opposite hitter who transferred from UCLA, has had plenty of success against Penn State in his career.
“I’ve actually never lost to Penn State,” Kobrine said. “I’m 3-0.”
Kobrine learned from his personal success against Penn State that the key to stopping the Nittany Lions is keeping their hitters at bay.
“If we just play our game, focusing strategically on some of their better players like their outside Brett Wildman and their middle Toby [Ezeonu], we can figure out how to stop them or slow them down, and I think it’s a very winnable game,” Kobrine said.
Kobrine asserted that the biggest key to a successful weekend overall will be consistency.
“A lot of players that are up and down, especially players that don’t have as much experience,” Kobrine said. “They’ll have some really high games and really high points, and then some really low points. For a good team and for a good player, it’s very important for consistency.”
Experience is just one part of Kobrine’s all-around skill set that Nygaard thinks will be extremely valuable to his team’s success in the tournament.
“He can just rip from the service line, which he’s got a really deadly serve. He can take over attacking, he can be a shutdown blocker, and I wrap all that in experience,” Nygaard said.
While Kobrine has been a big addition to Nygaard’s team, Kobrine also feels that he has gained a lot as a player after transferring from UCLA.
“Here [at USC], I have a very fresh perspective of, each game is important, each game has its own value,” Kobrine said.
USC will aim to take down two ranked opponents this weekend and see the trip as an opportunity to be an ambassador of the Trojan way.
“We’re wearing the USC brand, and everywhere we go people look to that brand and they understand that it represents excellence,” Nygaard said. “Therefore, it’s upon us, with no private moments out there anymore, to represent that brand at the highest level … at all times we gotta make sure that we’re handling ourselves in a way that’s commiserate to the brand of USC.”
Of course, the best thing for the Trojan brand would be going 2-0 in Pennsylvania.
“If we just go in and just bring our brand of volleyball, we should have the outcome we want,” Nygaard said.
The Trojans will take on the Nittany Lions on Friday at 4 p.m. and then will battle the Buckeyes on Saturday at 1 p.m. Both games can be seen on the B1G+ network.