No. 12 USC Men's Volleyball to Play No. 3 Penn State and No. 11 Ohio State In Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge

THIS WEEK
The USC men's volleyball team will be tested this weekend against two ranked teams, No. 3 Penn State and No. 11 Ohio State, in the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge hosted by UCLA in Westwood, Calif. The Trojans will face the Nittany Lions on Friday (Jan. 21) at 7:30 p.m. PT and the Buckeyes on Saturday (Jan. 22) at 5 p.m. PT in UCLA's Pauley Pavilion.

Penn State is 4-0 on the season, sweeping both BYU and Grand Canyon twice each this year. This will be the team's first test on the road this season.

Ohio State is 3-0 is also hitting the road for the first time in 2022. They have defeated Central State twice (3-0 both matches) and swept St. Francis as well.

FOLLOW THE TROJANS
•All of USC's home matches in the Galen Center are video-streamed live for free on USCTrojans.com, except for matches televised live on Pac-12 Network. 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).

•Live streaming and stat links for away matches can be found at USCTrojans.com.

RANKINGS
•USC is ranked No. 12 in the current AVCA Division I-II Top 15 poll. Penn State is No. 3 and Ohio State is No. 11.

OPPONENTS
•The Trojans hold a 19-11 record over the Nittany Lions dating back to 1980. In USC's last four matches against Penn State (2017-20), the match went five sets.

Setter Cole Bogner is fifth nationally in assists per set (10.50), and opposite Cal Fisher is tied for second in aces per set (1.000).

As a team, Penn State is 5th nationally in kills per set (12.75).

•USC is 19-5 all-time against Ohio State dating back to their initial meeting in 1977. As a team, the Buckeyes are first nationally in opponent hitting percentage (0.040).

LAST MATCHES

•Last week, USC recorded two wins during their home opener: a 3-0 win on Jan. 12 versus Princeton, and a 3-0 victory over Erskine on Jan. 14.