No. USC Outlasts No. 2 BYU

3/8/2011 12:00:00 AM

March 8, 2011

USC (12-1 MPSF, 12-1 Overall) won twice at home in five sets over BYU in a battle of the nation's top-two. The 12-1 MPSF start is the Trojans' best since 1994. Murphy Troy delivered 22 kills with a .522 attack, along with three aces Friday. Steven Shandrick took 15 errorless swings (.667). Troy added 18 kills (.438) Saturday, while his 125th career ace broke the all-time USC record in the rally scoring era. UC San Diego and UC Irvine visit the Galen Center this weekend.

STANFORD (11-4 MPSF, 14-4 Overall) Brad Lawson recorded 23 kills at UC Irvine and 17 (.353) at UC San Diego as the Cardinal won 3-1 each night. Brian Cook hit .591 at UCI (14-1-22). Evan Barry accumulated 55 assists in leading a .369 team attack and Spencer McLachlin had 21 kills (.436) in La Jolla in avenging an earlier loss to the Tritons. Now in second, Stanford breaks for finals until Mar. 19 vs. Cal Baptist. MPSF resumes Mar. 25 at home against CS Northridge.

HAWAII (6-6 MPSF, 8-9 Overall) swept Pepperdine twice at home to even its MPSF record. The outcomes marked the first time since 2001 UH won both regular season contests over the Waves. Jonas Umlauft hit .480 (31-7-50) over the two-match series, averaging better than five kills per set. Josh Walker combined to hit .435 (26-6-46) and Steven Hunt .458 (15-4-24) over the six sets. The Warriors stay home for Pacific Friday and Saturday (Mar. 11-12).

UCLA (6-8 MPSF, 11-9 Overall) Wes Dunlap and Nick Vogel combined for an errorless .720 middle attack (18-0-25) in a 3-0 win at CS Northridge last Wednesday. The Bruins hit .375 in winning three deuce sets. Friday, UCLA survived a first set loss to edge Long Beach State in five. Kyle Caldwell posted 17 kills (.412),13 digs, and seven blocks, while Gonzalo Quiroga turned in 16 kills (.343) and a career-high 17 digs. Penn State and Loyola-Chicago visit Westwood this week.

LONG BEACH STATE (8-5 MPSF, 9-7 Overall) split a pair of conference matches, taking a four-set decision at UC Santa Barbara. Taylor Crabb hit .500 (13-3-20) and Antwain Aguillard was .524 in the middle (12-1-21) in the win. Jim Baughman tallied a double-double on 21 kills (.395) and 14 digs at UCLA. The 49ers host a four-team tournament this weekend, playing Lewis Friday (Mar. 11) and Penn State Saturday (Mar. 12).

UC IRVINE (8-6 MPSF, 11-9 Overall) split two at home, defeating Pacific in three after a four-set loss to Stanford. Cory Yoder posted 14 kills on a .458 clip in the win. Jordan DuFault collected a double-double with 12 kills (.417) and 10 digs, while Carson Clark put away 13 balls at .346. Anthony Spittle led an overall .453 team attack and dished 46 assists. Yoder led with 16 kills against the Cardinal. The Anteaters visit Pepperdine Thursday (Mar. 10).

UC SANTA BARBARA (9-7 MPSF, 11-8 Overall) had a 16-kill (.393) and three-ace effort from Jeff Menzel in a 3-0 home win over CS Northridge last Friday. The Gauchos held an overall hitting advantage of .347-.193 in bouncing back from a four-set home loss to Long Beach State two nights earlier. UCSB partakes in the Long Beach State this week, taking on Penn State and Lewis over the weekend.

PACIFIC (3-10 MPSF, 7-12 Overall) split a pair of 3-0 sweeps in Southern California, defeating UC San Diego and falling to UC Irvine. Adam Troy put away a match-high 13 kills with a .478 attack in the win. Sean Daley added a .417 clip (8-1-17). Florian Gornik hit .462 in the loss (13-1-26). The Tigers travel to Hawaii for two this weekend.

BYU (9-5 MPSF, 13-6 Overall) came up short in a pair of 3-2 matches at No. 1 USC this past weekend. Taylor Sander totaled 46 kills over the series, including 29 (.480) in the first match in addition to serving three aces. Robb Stowell recorded a night two high of 22 kills along with 10 digs, while Futi Tavana hit .611. Alex DaPron tallied 14 kills (.435) the first night. BYU is off this week.

PEPPERDINE (4-9 MPSF, 6-9 Overall) Maurice Torres combined for 23 kills in five sets (4.60 K/S) as the Waves dropped a pair of 3-0 matches at Hawaii this past weekend. UC Irvine and UC San Diego visit Malibu this week, Thursday and Saturday (Mar. 10 & 12).

UC SAN DIEGO (3-11 MPSF, 6-14 overall) dropped two home matches, 3-0 to Pacific and 3-1 to Stanford. A record crowd at RIMAC Arena of 1, 012 took in the Stanford contest. Carl Eberts led the Tritons in the four-setter on .429 hitting (15-3-28). Joel Davidson added 11 kills and Shane Veiga 10. Davison and Eberts had 10 each in the three-set match. UC San Diego heads to USC and Pepperdine this week.

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (3-10 MPSF, 4-14 Overall) fell 3-0 at home to UCLA and on the road at UC Santa Barbara. Drew Staker hit .438 (9-2-16) and Dillon Auxier .368 (9-2-19) vs. UCSB. Auxier recorded 10 kills vs. the Bruins. The Matadors step away from the MPSF this week to host Loyola-Chicago Wednesday and Harvard Saturday.

MURPHY TROY MPSF MOLTEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
USC senior opposite Murphy Troy (St. Louis, MO/University HS) led a pair of dramatic five-set home wins over No. 2 BYU. In the first match, he had a team-best 22 kills while hitting a blistering .526 along with serving three aces. In the second match, he had a team-high 18 kills (.438) and added eight digs and three blocks. Troy's ace in the second set was the 125th of his career, a new USC rally scoring era career record. Also Nominated: Spencer McLachlin (STAN); Kyle Caldwell (UCLA); Jonas Umlauft (UH)