USC Snaps 7 Match Losing Streak, Ohio State, Grand Canyon Win In 5

  0 Carly DeMarque | February 09th, 2018 | College - Men's Indoor, EIVA, MIVA, MPSF, News

February 8 saw a lot of hard-fought five-set matches along with a few high-powered sweeps across the country. #1 LBSU and #2 UCLA easily handled their opponents in straight sets while BYU took a set to warm up. Ohio State, Grand Canyon and USC each battled through five-set matches to take wins.

#1 LBSU def. Harvard 3-0, (25-15, 25-15, 25-20)

Long Beach State traveled out east to take on the Ivy League’s Harward, to which they ended with a sweep. The 49ers turned in a .431 hitting percentage and led in blocks with 7.5 to 2. TJ DeFalco led the team with 8 kills on a .412 hitting clip while Kyle Ensing added in 6. Setter Josh Tuaniga dished out 22 assists in a balanced offensive match.

#2 UCLA def. #19 Concordia Irvine 3-0, (25-18, 28-26, 25-17)

UCLA began their MPSF stint with a three-set sweep over Concordia Irvine. This is the fourth straight match that the Bruins have posted a hitting percentage at .400 or higher. Christian Hessenauer led the way for the Bruins with 12 kills and 5 digs while Micah Ma’a dished out 36 assists, seven digs and 5 kills on a .833 hitting clip.

#6 BYU def. #17 UCSD 3-1, (18-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-16)

BYU started off slow against UCSD, dropping the first set but was able to recover in the next three sets to take the match in four. Brenden Sander led the Cougars with 15 kills on a .419 hitting clip along with 11 digs for a double-double while Gabi Garcia Fernandez posted 11 kills but 11 errors in the match to hit .000.

#7 Ohio State def (RV) Ball State 3-2, (21-25, 25-13, 18-25, 27-25, 15-10)

It was the opening night of the MIVA for Ohio State and Ball State, with the Buckeyes coming out on top after a battled five-set performance. The Buckeyes and Cardinals have faced each other more than any other opponent, with this meeting being the 181st time they have met. Ohio State holds the edge with a 98-84 record over the Cardinals.

Maxime Hervoir led the Buckeyes with 19 kills on a .400 hitting percentage along with 10 digs for a double-double while Nicolas Szerszen accomplished the same feat with 15 kills and 13 digs. Also recording double-digit kills was Jake Hanes with 18 along with 3 aces and 6 digs.

#9 Grand Canyon def. #14 Pepperdine 3-2, (17-25, 17-25, 25-14, 25-20, 15-9)

Grand Canyon took down Pepperdine in a five-set comeback after going down 0-2 to start the match. The third set was a turnaround for the Lopes as they took a dominant 25-14 set over the Wave and kept that momentum going into the fourth to force a fifth set. The fifth was a quick and easy set for the Lopes as they claimed the victory 15-9.

Cullen Mosher led the Lopes with 15 points while Luke Turner and Will Schwob added 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Sky Engleman picked up a match-best 12 digs in the win.

#18 USC def. #16 Stanford 3-2, (25-20, 25-23, 21-25, 21-25, 15-10)

USC snapped a 7 match losing streak in a hard-fought five-set match. The Trojans went up early in the match with a 2-0 lead but let that slip and gave Stanford a chance to come back and force a fifth and deciding set. USC came out on top in the fifth 15-10 to complete the match. Jack Wyett led the Trojans with 22 kills on a .439 hitting percentage along with 8 digs. Ryan Moss and Gianluca Grasso also contributed double-digit kills in the win with 18 and 16, respectively. Moss also picked up 10 digs for a double-double while setter Chris Hall dished out 64 assists and 7 digs.

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About Carly DeMarque

Carly DeMarque

Carly DeMarque has been involved with competitive volleyball for the majority of her life, playing competitively at the club and collegiate level for 15 years and coaching club for five. Now a retired Division I volleyball athlete out of McNeese State University, she continues her volleyball enthusiasm by stepping back into …

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