PROVO, Utah — No. 7 BYU men’s volleyball returns to the Smith Fieldhouse after two upset wins against Pepperdine to host conference opponent No. 11 USC on Thursday and Friday.
USC (8-11) is currently on a four-game losing streak, most recently dropping a four-set decision to No. 4 Long Beach State. The Trojans are led by freshman outside hitter Dillon Klein who has 265 kills on the year which are the 15th most in NCAA Division I men's volleyball this season.
BYU has a 45-16 overall record against the Trojans, with a 24-8 home record. The Cougars have won 26 games in a row at home against USC, dating back to 1996.
BYU moved up to No. 7 in this week’s AVCA coaches poll after five weeks in a row of sitting at number eight. This is BYU’s tenth week in a row on the rankings. Last season, BYU’s highest ranking at any point was eight.
BYU’s sophomore middle blocker Teon Taylor was named the National Middle Attacker of the Week. The Cougars also swept this week's MPSF honors, with Miks Ramanis winning Offensive Player of the Week and Taylor winning Defensive Player of the Week. Taylor is currently the No. 3 blocker in the country, averaging 1.346 blocks per set. The highest average is 1.500 blocks per set from Simon Torwie out of Long Beach State. As a team, BYU is currently averaging 2.545 blocks per set, the sixth highest average out of all NCAA D1 men’s volleyball teams. Taylor also holds a 2023 NCAA single-match record with 13 total blocks against CUI on January 27th.
Series Information
- Series Record: 45-16
- Last Meeting: BYU lost 3-0 (18-25, 10-25, 17-25)
- Home: 24-8
- Away: 21-8
- Neutral: 0-0
Broadcast Information
- Thursday: 7 p.m. MST
- Streaming: BYUtv app/byutv.org
- Friday: 7 p.m. MST
- Streaming: BYUtv