LOS ANGELES – The No. 10 UC Santa Barbara men’s volleyball team could not keep pace with No. 7 USC, falling to the Trojans, 3-1, Friday night at the Galen Center. Set scores were 26-30, 35-33, 30-24, and 31-29.
Scott Slaughter hit .522 for UCSB, finishing with 14 kills, six block assists, and an ace. Jeff Menzel secured his second consecutive double-double with 17 kills and 11 digs, but the leading hitter in the MPSF managed only a .022 total hitting percentage, his lowest of the season. Setter Vince Devany passed-out 60 assists and had five blocks.
Murphy Troy led the way with 24 kills for USC. Three players ended the night with 12 kills for the Trojans- Tony Ciarelli, Steven Shandrick, and Hunter Current. Ciarelli finished with 10 digs while Current finished with 16 digs.
With the loss, the Gauchos drop to 10-9 overall, 7-6 in MPSF play. USC improves to 9-6 and 7-5.
In the first set, the Gauchos would lead by as much as three before the Trojans caught up at 23-23. A pair of Menzel kills gave UCSB a two-point cushion, but USC was able to trade points from there, bringing them back within one, 27-26. Slaughter took the rest of the set into his own hands from there, spiking a pair of kills down the middle and then finishing off the set with a block along with Devany, 30-26.
Facing set point in the second frame, a USC error breathed new life into the Gauchos, as the teams’ matched each other at 30-30. USC would win the next point, but ended up traded points with UCSB until 32-32. Blaine Nielsen planted an ace down the line to give the Gauchos set point at 33-32, but a kill by Troy and a pair of aces from Ciarelli downed the Gauchos, 35-33.
Tied at 20-20 in the third set, the Trojans would win five of the next six points, three on UCSB attack errors, to give them a cushion at 25-21. Slaughter stopped the bleeding for the Gauchos with a kill, but Troy followed with a pair of his own to extend the lead to five. A USC attack error gave the Gauchos hope, but the Trojans would go on to win three of the next four points for the 30-24 victory.
