Men's volleyball season preview

Freshmen key to taking next step

By Ron Ognar
Assistant Sports Editor

Last season, USC Head Coach Pat Powers, a former Trojan All-American, returned to his alma mater and guided the USC men's volleyball team to its first winning season since 1994, but the team failed to make the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs.
This season Powers expects the Trojans to reach the playoffs, taking the next step to restore the USC men's volleyball program to its former glory.
The Trojans, who finished 18-14 overall, 9-10 in the MPSF last season, begin this year today at the UC Santa Barbara Invitational with a team returning only two starters. Lost to graduation are All-MPSF honorable mention selections Chris Guigliano and Eric Seiffert. The team also lost junior opposite hitter Gabe Gardner, who has transferred to Stanford.
The team does return 6-foot-10 senior middle blocker Szilard Kovacs and 6-5 sophomore setter Donald Suxho. Kovacs, a native of Hungary, finished 15th nationally in hitting with a .420 average per game. Suxho, a native of Albania, finished 11th nationally in assists with a 17.04 average. This pair clearly will be the team's leaders.
Beyond Suxho and Kovacs, USC will need large contributions from its nine incoming freshman, six of whom appeared on the Volleyball Fab 50 list. Powers said the class has been ranked as the third- or fourth-best in the nation.
Powers sees 6-foot-6 outside hitter Eli Fairfield and 6-4 outside hitter Trevor Julian as the freshmen who will have the quickest effect. The rest of Powers' first recruiting class will battle for playing time and deepen USC's bench.
"I think players, more than anything else, respect competition," Powers said.
This year's team lacks the offensive "artillery" of last year, Powers said, but the squad should be a much better passing and a somewhat better blocking team.
This year's team, being deeper, gives Powers "a little more confidence in my bench this year over last year."
The Trojans' depth will suffer early, with senior outside hitter Brad Callahan expected to be out for at least a month after foot surgery.
USC starts the season at the UC Santa Barbara Invitational, which starts today and lasts until Saturday. The tournament features such highly touted teams as Pepperdine, BYU and Long Beach State, all of whom should give the young Trojan squad an early challenge.