Men's volleyball

Trojans look to avenge 5-game loss to Aztecs

By Ron Ognar
Assistant Sports Editor

The No. 14 USC men's volleyball will try to avenge an earlier loss and advance its playoff chances when it travels to San Diego State for a match at 7 p.m. tonight.
In a Jan. 28 matchup at North Gym, the Trojans failed to close out the Aztecs after being up 2-0 at one point. USC's collapse included an embarrassing game four, which SDSU won, 15-1, and the Trojans only hit .032 as a team.
But since that match, USC (10-13 overall, 6-10 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) has turned its play around and leaped over the Aztecs in the MPSF standings.
USC is in a battle with Loyola Marymount and UC Santa Barbara for one of the two remaining at-large berths to the MPSF playoffs.
Meanwhile, SDSU (7-15, 4-12) appears to be out of the race, in fifth place in the Pacific Division and two games in back of the Trojans.
The Aztecs are coming off a dominating 15-6, 15-6, 15-5 victory against Division II Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday.
They are led by 6-foot-5 senior outside hitter Matt Hyden, who has 530 kills this season while hitting .348. Hyden exploded for 30 kills and hit .382 against USC in January.
Junior middle blocker Tom Hunter's .399 hitting percentage ranks in the top 20 in the nation. Hunter has 431 kills this season, including 22 against the Trojans.
The Trojans are led by senior 6-foot-10 middle blocker Szilard Kovacs, who had 21 kills and hit .311 against the Aztecs in January.