USC Men's Volleyball Falls At Home To No. 7 UCLA
Cole Ketrzynski had 18 kills to lead the No. 7 UCLA men's volleyball team to a 25-23, 25-20, 27-29, 25-21 victory over unranked USC in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at USC's Galen Center on Thursday (Feb. 18).
UCLA improved to 3-2 overall and in the MPSF, while USC dropped to 1-1 overall and in the MPSF.
It was the second of 3 consecutive matches between USC and UCLA. The Trojans opened their season last Saturday (Feb. 14) with a 3-1 win at UCLA.
The teams will meet again this Saturday (Feb. 20) at 5 p.m. in the upstairs Galen Pavilion. That match was originally USC's opener on Jan. 30 before it was rescheduled due to Troy's COVID issues.
Billy Fauntleroy led USC with 14 kills, while Vecas Lewin had 9 kills (hitting .562), Lucas Frassrand had a match-high 5 blocks and both Chris Hall and Cole Paxson had a match-leading 11 digs.
Austin Matautia added 12 kills and 8 digs for the Bruins, while Ethan Champlin had 11 kills.
UCLA hit .283 to USC's .173.
UCLA went on an early 4-point run in the first set to build an 8-6 lead and the Bruins extended it to 16-12 before the Trojans scored the next 4 points to tie it, only to see UCLA go up 19-16 and Troy could not quite catch up as the Bruins hit .391.
UCLA jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the second set and built it to 17-12 before USC pulled within 21-19, but the Bruins we able to hold the lead the rest of the way.
USC had an 18-14 edge in the third set, but UCLA knotted it at 20-20 and then the Bruins held off 4 set points before a combo block by Fauntleroy and Frassrand followed by a Frassrand kill gave the Trojans the set.
Troy forged a 13-10 lead in the fourth set, but UCLA used a 3-point run to go up 19-18 and soon after another Bruin 3-0 run gave them a 23-20 lead, all the margin they needed for the match.