By Jessica Molinengo
No. 5 USC ended its 14-match losing streak against BYU this weekend as it claimed wins Friday and Saturday in Los Angeles.
Despite winning the second set on Friday, the No. 9 Cougars dropped the first match of their series against USC (30-21, 25-30, 30-27, 30-27).
Opposite Mat Taylor led the Cougars in kills for the fifth time in 6 matches, recording 18 kills on the night. Outside hitter Andrew Stewart logged 16 kills of his own, making Friday”s match his eighth consecutive match recording double-digit kills.
BYU”s 51 total kills were overshadowed by the Trojans” 75. Trojan outside hitter Murphy Troy set a new career high with his 28 kills and also recorded a .610 hitting percentage on the night.
The Cougars lost the first set 30-21 but bounced back in the second set, beating the Trojans 25-30.
In the third set, a 5-0 run built on kills by Taylor and outside hitter Jeff Robinson brought the Cougars within one point of USC. Even so, BYU couldn”t pull it out, falling 30-27.
The Trojans went on a 4-0 run in the final set until Taylor knocked down a kill to put BYU on the board. Hampered by a .094 attack percentage, BYU maintained at least a two-point disadvantage throughout the entire set. Down 29-26, BYU forced two match point attempts before USC”s Troy put one down to secure the Trojans” 30-27 win.
On Saturday, BYU lost a hard fought battle as it dropped the second match of its series against the Trojans (34-32, 33-35, 29-31, 30-23, 15-10).
In spite of the loss, five Cougars recorded double-digit kills on the night. Taylor posted 18 kills again while outside hitter Kevin Sagers and middle blocker Futi Tavana both logged 16. Tavana”s 16 kills denote a new career high. Stewart recorded 15 kills and middle blocker Russell Lavaja knocked down a career best of 13. Setter Yamil Perez contributed 68 assists as well.
For the Trojans, Troy contributed 24 kills followed by outside hitter Tony Ciarelli, who logged 18.
The Cougars lost an intense first set 34-32. Both teams traded points until BYU went on a 5-0 run to make the score 12-16. The Cougars kept the lead until Trojan setter Riley McKibbin brought the score to 17-18, forcing a Cougar timeout. However, BYU continued with the lead until USC”s Troy knocked down a kill to tie it up 28-28.
After Taylor, Stewart, and Tavana triple-blocked Trojan opposite Sean Dennis, the Cougars were at game point. However, USC would not allow it. The two teams tied it up twice until the Trojans finally put it away with a service ace.
In the second set, the fans in USC”s Galen Center saw a performance nearly identical to the first. The teams went back and forth until BYU emerged with the win, 33-35.
BYU mostly trailed the Trojans until errors committed by USC put the Cougars up 16-17. BYU kept the lead until point 21 when both teams started trading points again. Two clutch kills by Sagers put the Cougars up 27-28, causing USC to call a timeout.
Lavaja, Taylor, and Stewart put up a wall to bring the set to game point at 29-30. But like the first set, USC would not give up. The teams matched each other four times until an attack error by USC gave BYU the win.
Both the Trojans and Cougars played point-for-point during the third set until BYU pulled ahead at point 24. A kill by Tavana brought the Cougars to game point, and after the Trojans went on a 2-0 run, BYU finally clinched the win 29-31.
Fighting back after dropping two sets, USC claimed the fourth set 30-23.
The momentum seemed to remain in the Trojans” favor as they took the final set 15-10.
