Lucas Yoder Leads USC To Upset Over #3 Long Beach State In Four

Match Stats

• USC def. #3 Long Beach State 3-1, (25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22)
• USC improved to 2-2 (1-0 MPSF), Long Beach State falls to 3-1 (0-1 MPSF)

USC pulls off the first big upset of the year over #3 Long Beach State, with Lucas Yoder leading the was for the Trojans.

Yoder put down a match-best 28 kills on a .404 hitting percentage for USC. Andy Benesh added another 12 kills hitting for .526, while Connor Inlow hammered down nine kills. In the back court, Matt Douglas picked up 10 digs.

For Long Beach State, TJ DeFalco put down 13 kills and eight digs, while Amir Lugo-Rodriguez added 10 kills.

Press Release

Courtesy of USC Athletics

The unranked USC men’s volleyball team, behind Lucas Yoder’s 28 kills, upset No. 3 Long Beach State, 25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, on Wednesday (Jan. 11) in USC’s Galen Center in both teams’ opening Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match of 2017.

USC improved to 2-2 overall, while Long Beach suffered its first loss of the year to fall to 3-1 overall.

Yoder hit at a .404 clip and added 6 digs. Teammate Andy Benesh had 12 kills while hitting .526 and also had 5 digs and 4 blocks, Connor Inlow had a career-high 9 kills (hitting .600) along with 4 blocks, Matt Douglas had a match-best 10 digs and Aaron Strange had 5 kills and 9 digs.

For LBSU, TJ DeFalco had 13 kills and 8 digs, Amir Lugo-Rodriguez added 10 kills, Kyle Ensing had 9 kills, 5 digs and 2 aces, Bryce Yould had 7 kills (hitting .545) and 4 blocks and Andrew Sato had 9 digs.

USC hit .358 to LBSU’s .265 and the Trojans had more digs, 41-25.

USC jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead in the opening set, then steadily pulled away while hitting a blistering .739 (just 1 hitting error in 23 swings) and getting 8 digs. In the second set, the Trojans built another early lead, 8-3, and Long Beach State couldn’t catch up as USC hit .385 and added 10 more digs. The 49ers went on a 7-0 run to forge a 14-6 lead in the third set and held off the fast-closing Trojans (LBSU hit .367 and had 3.5 blocks in the set). Long Beach State scored the first 4 points of the fourth set and USC countered by scoring the next 4, then the match was tight until the Trojans went on a late 3-0 run to go up 24-21 and close out the match.

USC returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 14) with a home match against No. 13 Cal State Northridge at 7 p.m. in the Galen Center.