March 10, 2013

Box Score | Box Score

For the second time in 3 days, the No. 13 USC men's volleyball team dropped a 5-set match at No. 11 Hawaii, this time 20-25, 25-21, 25-18, 23-25, 15-9 in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match in front of 3,173 fans in Honolulu on Sunday (March 10).

Hawaii improved to 7-12 overall and 6-10 in MPSF play. The Trojans, who have now dropped their past 3 matches all in 5 sets after not being extended to 5 sets previously, fell to 4-11 overall and in the MPSF.

Joey Booth led USC with 19 kills while hitting .318 and he had 6 digs. Teammate Alex Slaught added 13 kills, Tanner Jansen had 11 kills, Henry Cassiday had 16 digs, Robert Feathers had 5 blocks and Micah Christenson had 3 aces.

For Hawaii, JP Marks had 22 kills (hitting .444) and 9 digs, Sinisa Zarkovic had 12 kills while hitting .400 and added 7 digs, Brook Sedore had 11 kills and 8 digs and Davis Holt had 6 blocks.

The Warriors hit .391 to USC's .176. But the Trojans served 9 aces and had 40 digs.

USC went on a 3-0 run in the first set to open a 10-7 lead and Hawaii could never catch back up as Troy hit .324. The Warriors scored 4 answered points in the second set to forge a 16-13 margin and held on while hitting .345. Another run of 4 consecutive points gave Hawaii a 13-9 edge in the third set and it was never threatened while hitting .409 to USC's .000. The fourth set was tight throughout until the Trojans scored back-to-back points to go up, 22-20, and the Warriors could not overcome that deficit (both teams hit well in the set, with UH at .522 and USC at .500). Hawaii's early 4-0 run in the fifth set gave it a 6-4 lead and it was never threatened while hitting .368 to USC's .000.

USC returns home now to host No. 3 UC Irvine on Friday (March 15) at 7 p.m. in an MPSF match that will be played in the Lyon Center.