Trojans get first win in five-set thriller


Tuesday night the Trojans (1-6, 1-4 MPSF) earned their first win of the season by upsetting the No. 8 Pepperdine Waves (4-2, 3-2 MPSF) at the Galen Center (25-23, 25-19, 19-25, 21-25, 15-11). This marked the first time since the end of the 2013 season that the Trojans were unranked.

Sophomore opposite Jon Rivera had a career night with 23 kills. He hit .302 in the match and had two blocks and five digs. While Rivera had a career night, he remained focused on the team getting their first win of the season.

“I always go to every game and go as hard as I can,” Rivera said. “I’m just trying to get kills for the team and be aggressive.”

Junior middle blocker Andy Benesh, in his second match of the season, recorded 11 kills while hitting .611 and had two aces, four digs and 1.5 blocks.

“I think I’ve stepped more into the leadership role this year,” Benesh said. “I give more tactical advice than motivation.”

The Trojans came out to a fast start in the first set, taking a quick 9-7 lead. The Waves battled back and eventually took the lead at 18-16. The Trojans went on a three-point run to take the lead 19-18.

Senior outside hitter Alex Slaught nailed an ace on the back line to tie the set at 22-all. Rivera nabbed the Trojans the lead with a kill, 23-22. Slaught tallied another ace to get USC set point. The Waves got a kill to make it 24-23 USC, but a Pepperdine service error would get the Trojans the first set, 25-23.

Rivera led the team in the first set with four kills while hitting .667.

This is only the second time this season that the Trojans won the first set of a match.

Similar to the first set, the second set was neck-and-neck between the Trojans and the Waves.

Once the Men of Troy took the lead at 6-5, they hit their stride and ran away with the set. Benesh scored off a quick kill to get the Trojans to 24-19. A Pepperdine hitting error would get the Trojans the second set, 25-19.

Strong blocking from middle blockers Benesh and senior Tommy Leonard solidified the Trojans’ dominance defensively at the net in the second set.

Rivera once again had a solid set, recording five kills while hitting .571 overall.

Even though they were down 2-0 in the match, Pepperdine didn’t go down without a fight. They took the lead in the third set from the first point. The Waves’ maintained their lead throughout the entirety of the set. USC came within two after a huge block from Benesh, 16-14, causing Pepperdine to call a timeout.

The Trojans would try to tie the set, but they just couldn’t catch the Waves. Pepperdine flipped the script of the second set and won the third set off of an ace, 25-19.

Even though USC dropped the set, Rivera continued to hit the ball well. He picked up another five kills in the third while hitting .400 overall.

In the fourth set, the Trojans came out with a renewed energy. USC took control early following a block from Rivera, 3-1.

The Trojans maintained the lead up until the Waves tied it up at 14-all and then took the lead off of a miss hit by the Trojans, 15-14. The Trojans called a timeout to try and slow down the Waves.

Coming out of the timeout, Benesh scored a quick kill to tie it at 15-all. From that point, the Waves outscored the Trojans 7-2 before USC called a timeout, 22-17.

Pepperdine would go on to score two of three to get to 24-18, but the Trojans scored three-in-a-row to make it 24-21 before the Waves called a timeout. Immediately after the timeout, Pepperdine recorded a kill to take the set 25-21 and send it to the fifth set.

Nygaard took time to calm his team down and get them focused on the end goal– winning the match.

“It’s not so much what I said but how I said it, which was just calm,” Nygaard said. “To guys I have a pretty good relationship with, I made sure to crack a few jokes and the tension was broke.”

Pepperdine would get the first point of the fifth set with an ace, but Leonard struck back with a quick kill off of the next serve.

The Trojans tied the set at 3-all after a hitting error from the Waves. An ace by Leonard gave the Trojans the lead, 4-3.

Rivera kept the lead in the Trojans’ favor after getting back-to-back kills off of a tool and a tip, 6-4.

Miscommunication on the Trojans’ side tied the score in the set, but Rivera came in clutch with his 22nd kill of the match. A miss-hit by the Waves put the Trojans ahead 8-6.

After the side change, the Waves had another hitting error, causing them to call a timeout as USC led 9-6.

Coming out of the timeout, Pepperdine recorded a quick kill but Benesh came in swinging hard to keep the Trojans’ lead at three, 10-7.

An ace by Benesh pushed the lead to 11-7.

Rivera, as he did all match, came flying in from the right side for the kill, 12-8 USC.

Leonard ripped one from the middle to put the Trojans up 13-9.

A hitting error by Pepperdine moved USC to match point, 14-10.

It was back-and-forth towards the end, but the lead that USC built up in the middle of the set was enough to carry them to the 15-11 set and match victory.

Nygaard said he wants the team to be more mindful of the situations throughout the game.

“They were mindful, they saw the game a bit clearer again,” Nygaard said. “[They] were able to make plays when it mattered.”

Heading into their match against No. 6 Stanford (5-1, 3-1 MPSF), Rivera knows that just because his team got their first win, there’s no stopping them now.

“We’re not going to get our foot off of the gas pedal,” Rivera said. “We’re going to get that record in the positive.”