LONG BEACH, Calif. – The 11th-ranked USC men’s volleyball team (8-10, 1-5 MPSF) fell to No. 4 Long Beach State (13-3, 3-1 Big West) in three sets (25-17, 25-15, 25-23) in a non-conference match at the Walter Pyramid on Friday, March 24.
KEY PLAYERS
- Gr. OH Kevin Kobrine led the Trojan attack with 11 kills (4e, 26att, .269) and put up six digs. It was his 10th match in double-digit kills and his 12th in double-digit points.
- Sr. MB Lucas Frassrand put up seven kills (2e, 11att) and finished with a .455 hitting percentage. He led the Trojans with four blocks (two solo) and a pair of service aces.
- Jr. S Nate Tennant put up 26 assists to go with eight digs and a block.
- Fr. OH Dillon Klein posted five kills and had one solo block.
- For The Beach, Sotiris Siapanis led with 11 kills (4e. 27att, .259) and had six digs, two aces and two blocks. Olivier Spencer added seven kills (3e, 15att, .267) and Clarke Godbold had six kills (1e, 20att, .250). Simon Torwie led all players with six blocks (one solo). Aidan Knipe had 23 assists and eight digs as he set The Beach to a .247 hitting percentage.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Long Beach State opened with a 6-1 lead in the first and never trailed despite the Trojans pulling into two separate ties. Both teams had three blocks and nine kills apiece, but The Beach completed a 25-17 win to take set one.
- LBSU led wire-to-wire in the second to take a 25-15 win behind .500 hitting and two more blocks. Siapanis led The Beach with three kills and Godbold added two more. For the Trojans, Kobrine and Frassrand each had three kills, but the Trojans gave up nine points on hitting errors in the frame.
- The Trojans led by as many as three points in the third, but a run by LBSU put the Beach in front for good. Kobrine had five kills, Klein had three, and Frassrand added three as USC mounted a late run to close within a point at 24-23, but Long Beach State sealed the sweep with a kill to get a 25-23 win.
UP NEXT
- The Trojans get a rematch with Long Beach State tomorrow night (March 25) at Galen Center. The match will be streamed live on the USC live stream platform with first serve set for 7 p.m. PT.
MATCH NOTES
- USC fell to 62-57 all-time against Long Beach State and lost to LBSU for the third straight time.
- The Trojans dropped to 2-10 in matches against AVCA ranked opponents this spring.
For more information on the USC men’s volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com/MVB. Fans of the Trojans can follow @USCmensvolley on Twitter and Instagram.
