Men’s volleyball splits series with No. 5 Hawaii


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The USC men’s volleyball team (3-11, 3-9 MPSF) upset No. 5 Hawaii (10-5, 5-5 MPSF) in a five-set battle (25-18, 20-25, 21-25, 26-24, 17-15) after losing to them in five sets on Monday.

The Trojans were led by junior outside hitter Lucas Yoder. Yoder tallied up 21 kills and 11 digs while hitting .279. He also led the team Monday night with 16 kills while hitting .448.

Senior outside hitter Alex Slaught recorded the second most kills on the team with 15, while sophomore opposite Jon Rivera recorded 11 kills.

Sophomore setter Jack Yoder recorded 56 assists in the win and another 37 the night before.

Junior middle blocker Andy Benesh led the team with five kills. Rivera and Slaught both recorded five kills. Senior middle blocker Tommy Leonard tallied up two kills. Monday night, Leonard led the team with six kills, while Jack Yoder put up four and Benesh tallied three.

Towards the end of the fifth set, it was 14-11 Hawaii. USC managed to battle off that match point and score three straight points to tie it at 14-all. Hawaii recorded a kill to make it 15-14, but USC scored another three straight points to take the set 17-15. Slaught secured the win with a kill to finish out the set.

This was the Trojans’ fourth consecutive five-set match, but the only one that the team has won in that span. This win against the Rainbow Warriors broke USC’s three match losing streak.

There were a total of 27 tie scores throughout the match, but only eight lead changes. Twelve of the tie scores came in the fourth set, which the Trojans won 26-24.

Despite being out-blocked 16.0 to 8.5, the Trojans still out hit the Rainbow Warriors .245 to .238. USC also recorded two more kills than Hawaii, 63 to 61. USC also recorded more digs than Hawaii, 49 to 39.

The win against the Rainbow Warriors finished up USC’s week long 4 match homestand. The Trojans won’t play another match until they face off at No. 10 UC Santa Barbara next Wednesday, February 24th. USC’s next home match will be the following Saturday when they host No. 3 UCLA.