Los Angeles, Calif. – The Red Flash men's volleyball team (5-11, 2-5 EIVA) takes a break from conference play this weekend, making a trip to the west coast to take on USC (3-13, 1-5 MPSF) Thursday and #9 Pepperdine (6-6, 3-2 MPSF) Friday. Both matches are set for 10 pm ET.
Scouting USC
USC has struggled in the win column this season, sitting at 3-13 and 1-5 in conference play. They have won just one out of their past eight matches. The Trojans are 2-4 against common opponents that the Red Flash are 1-5 against.
USC has more kills (739-720) and assists (685-669) than their opponents, but have more errors (304-195), less total blocks (80-162.5) and worse attack % (.270-.358).
The Trojan offense is led by Billy Fauntleroy and Kyle Gear, who have 144 and 122 kills, respectively. Brandon Browning has also contributed 114 kills and three more Trojans have 70+ kills. Chris Hall leads the team in assists at 334, followed by Jameson McKibben at 192.
Libero Cole Paxson has 111 digs for USC, by far leading the team. At the net, Sam Lewis leads the Trojans with five solo blocks and 22 block assists. 14 players from USC have picked up at least one block assist.
Series History: Tied 0-0
This will be the first ever match between the Red Flash and the Trojans.
Scouting #9 Pepperdine
Sitting at #9 in the AVCA rankings, the Waves are 6-6 and 3-2 in conference play. Pepperdine is on a three-match losing streak, falling to Grand Canyon and UC Santa Barbara twice. The Waves are 3-1 against teams that SFU is 1-3 against.
Pepperdine has less kills (528-556) and assists (496-516) than opponents, but has less errors (205-230), more team blocks (110.5-93), and a better attack % (.263-.255).
On offense, Noah Dyer and Jacob Steele are one and two on the team with 125 and 114 kills. Beyond these two, the Waves have just two more players with 50+ kills. Joe Karlous and Rob Mullahey have combined for the majority of assists, totaling 443 of the team's 496.
Defensively, Diego Perez has 86 digs, over 30 more than the next player. At the net, Austin Wilmot leads the Waves in block assists (42) and solo blocks (7). Pepperdine has seven players with double-digit block assists and five with at least 20.
Series History: Tied 0-0
This will be the first ever match between the Red Flash and the Waves.
Halfway Through EIVA
After a weekend split, SFU sits at 2-5 in conference play, placing them in sixth. The Red Flash's next three matches are against nonconference opponents, and they will not play another EIVA match until March 20th at Penn State.
Plenty of Traveling
Though SFU still has 11 matches remaining, just three of those matches are in Loretto – against Purdue Fort Wayne, Sacred Heart and Harvard. The Red Flash will make trips to the west coast, New England, New Jersey and the Virginias before the season concludes.
EIVA Leaderboards
Michael Fisher (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) is back at the top of the EIVA with 230 kills and 4.04 kills per set. Both statistics also rank in the top 10 nationally.
