Men's Volleyball | March 19, 2019
THE FACTS
The No. 11-ranked USC men's volleyball team (12-8 overall, 4-4 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) takes a break from MPSF play when it hosts No. 1, undefeated, defending NCAA champion Long Beach State (19-0) on Saturday (March 23) at 7 p.m. PT in the North Gym (because of a scheduling conflict in the Galen Center). Until last week, the Trojans were the only team this year to take a set off of the 49ers, dropping a 3-1 contest on the road in late January.
FOLLOW THE TROJANS
All of USC's home matches are video-streamed live for free on USCTrojans.com, except for matches televised live on Pac-12 Network (those matches only are audio-streamed live on the TuneIn Radio app). USC's online announcers are ex-Trojan player and assistant coach Mark Beltran and onetime Northeastern player/Winthrop assistant coach Paul Duchesne. Fans also can follow USC home matches through Live Stats at USCTrojans.com and all matches via Twitter (@USCmensvolley).
RANKINGS
USC is ranked 11th in the current AVCA Division I-II Top 15 poll. Long Beach State is No. 1.
OPPONENTS
USC holds a 61-53 lead in its series with Long Beach State, but has dropped the last 4 meetings, including 3-1 at the Pyramid in late January (the Trojans were the only team to take a set off the 49ers in 2019 until last week).
50TH SEASON
The 2019 season is the 50th of USC men's volleyball. Since 1970, the Trojan program has been among the finest in college: winning 4 NCAA championships, playing in 14 NCAA Final Fours and producing 20 Olympians, 34 All-American first teamers and 7 College Players of the Year.
SITE CHANGE
The site of USC's home matches against Concordia on March 16 and Long Beach State on March 23 was moved to the North Gym, due to a scheduling conflict in the Galen Center. The quaint 500-seat North Gym (located in USC's Physical Education Building) was the original home of the Trojan men's team. Troy played there from the team's inception in 1970 through 1988, again from 1997 to 2002 and then split time between the North Gym and Lyon Center from 2003 to 2006 before taking up residence in the Galen Center in 2007. USC last played a match in the North Gym in 2017 (3-0 sweeps over Lewis and George Mason) because of a Galen Center scheduling conflict.
