Match Stats
- No. 12 USC 3, Concordia (Calif.) 0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-19)
- USC moves to 11-12; Concordia falls to 17-10
- Los Angeles
- Attendance: 250
- Box Score
No. 12 USC won its fifth straight match behind a 20-kill night by sophomore outside hitter Gianluca Grasso, sweeping Concordia (Irvine). The Trojans won the match 25-22, 25-23, 25-19.
Grasso led all hitters with 20 kills, while hitting at a .455 clip and tacking on eight digs. Freshman middle/opposite Lucas Lossone added 14 putaways, while hitting .500 on the night. Sophomore outside Woody Cook and senior middle Andy Benesh chipped in seven apiece. Benesh put up a team-leading three stuffs, while Cook served up two aces. Sophomore libero Matt Douglas managed a team-best nine digs.
Junior outside Jonathon Predney just missed a double-double for the Eagles, posting 11 kills and nine digs and the team’s lone service ace. Senior opposite Joseph Pillon was next on the team with six kills. Junior outside Jonathan Predney led the defense with nine digs, while sophomore middle Howell Hunter and senior outside Andrew Hammer each managed two blocks.
USC outhit Concordia .357 to .237 on the night, including a .379 to .087 effort in the final stanza. The Trojans racked up 51 kills, while allowing the Eagles just 29.
USC led 13-4 in Set 1, but had to fend off a mid-set rally by the Eagles to nab the 25-22 win. Down nine, Concordia sliced the margin to three at 16-13, thanks to a 5-0 run, including two Trojan errors, a block and an ace. Down five at 23-18, the Eagles scored three straight to make it 23-21 and held off a USC set point chance at 24-21, before a Benesh kill closed out the stanza.
Concordia led 5-1 early in Set 2, but could not hold on for the win. USC knotted the score at 7-7 and 8-8 before taking its first lead at 9-8 on a Lossone putaway. Predney pounded down four kills as the Eagles turned the tables to regain the advantage at 15-11. Trailing 18-14, the Trojans counter-punched with an 8-3 run to go up 22-21. Concordia tied it up at 23, but an ace by Cook gave USC the win.
USC scored five of the first six points in Set 3 and never relinquished the lead. Concordia tied it up at 9-9, but soon trailed 17-12 as Grasso and Lossone downed three kills apiece. The Eagles were within three at 19-16, but the Trojans scored six of the final nine to secure the sweep.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: USC Athletics
Gianluca Grasso had 20 kills while hitting .455 and he added 8 digs to lead the No. 12-ranked USC men’s volleyball team to a 25-22, 25-23, 25-19 non-conference sweep over Concordia on Friday (March 24) in USC’s Galen Center Pavilion.
USC won its season-best fifth consecutive match to improve to 11-12 overall, while Concordia fell to 17-10 on the year.
Lucas Lossone added 14 kills (hitting .500) for the Trojans, while Matt Douglas had 9 digs.
For Concordia, Jonathon Predney had 11 kills and 9 digs.
USC hit .357 in the match to Concordia’s .237.
USC went on a 9-point run early in the first set to forge a 13-4 lead before Concordia slowly crept back, but the Eagles were unable to catch up as Troy hit .400. Concordia used a 4-0 run to go up 15-11 in the second set, but USC knotted it at 20-20 and then scored the set’s final 2 points, punctuated by a set-ending ace by Woody Cook. The Trojans scored 3 straight points to build a 12-9 lead in the final set, all the edge they needed to close out the match while hitting .379.
For the sixth consecutive match, USC rested its top hitter, Lucas Yoder, who has an abdominal strain.
USC now hosts an exhibition match against a Trojan alumni team on Saturday (March 25) at 4 p.m. PT in the Galen Center Pavilion, then returns to Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play next week when it welcomes crosstown rival No. 6 UCLA to the Galen Center on March 29 at 7 p.m. PT.
Courtesy: Concordia Athletics
Release not available at time of posting.
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