Men's Volleyball
    No. 4 USC Men's Volleyball Wins At Pepperdine
    Tony Ciarelli serves 7 aces.
    Tony Ciarelli
    Tony Ciarelli

    March 10, 2012

    Box Score

    Tony Ciarelli had 15 kills and served 7 aces—-one shy of the school record—-to lead the No. 4-ranked USC men’s volleyball team to a 25-23, 20-25, 25-13, 25-11 win at No. 10 Pepperdine in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match on Saturday (March 10).

    USC won its eighth match in a row to improve to 13-4 overall and 10-4 in the MPSF. The Waves fell to 9-9 overall and 6-8 in the MPSF.

    The match was tied at one set each and USC was up just 10-9 in the third set when the Trojans went on a 13-0 run, with Ciarelli serving 13 consecutive times and mixing in 4 aces during that streak. The momentum continued in USC’s favor in the fourth set, as the Trojans got off to a 4-1 start and steadily pulled away while hitting .591.

    The first set was tied at 23-23 when back-to-back Waves hitting errors gave the set to USC. Pepperdine turned it around in the second set, hitting .429 and building a 12-7 lead that USC could not overcome.

    In the match, the Trojans outhit Pepperdine, .327 to .161, and had more blocks (14.0 to 11.0).

    Maddison McKibbin added 12 kills for USC while hitting .588 and he had 6 digs, Steven Shandrick had 9 kills (hitting .600) and 4 blocks and Robert Feathers had 7 blocks.

    Maurice Torres led Pepperdine with 15 kills and 7 digs.

    USC next plays at No. 1 UCLA—the last team to beat the Trojans (in early February)—on Wednesday (March 14) in an MPSF contest.