USC splits first two matches of season

By DAVID CISNEROS
Staff Writer

After dropping it's first match of the year, the USC men's volleyball team notched its first victory Wednesday, sweeping Cal Baptist 15-8, 15-12 and 15-11 in Riverside.

However, in the season opener for the Trojans, they were swept by the University of Alberta (Canada) Golden Bears on Jan. 6, 15-10, 15-2 and 15-11.

Against Cal Baptist, USC sophomore outside hitter Eli Fairfield led the way with 15 kills in the match.

Sophomore outside hitter Trevor Julian contributed 10 kills to lead the Trojans (1-1) to their first win.

It was the first-ever match for the Cal Baptist (0-1) volleyball program. Alberta (16-7) came into its match with USC as the top-ranked team in Canada and is in the middle of its season, while the Trojans had only two days to prepare for the contest.

Pascal Cardinal had 17 kills and Murray Grapentine had 15 kills and five blocks to lead the Golden Bears to victory.

Alberta is currently on a tour, playing southern California colleges while breaking from Canadian play.

But the loss definitely had some positives for the Trojans, including freshman outside hitter Brook Billings' match-high 23 kills.

Billings, in his first regular season game for USC, also had five digs.

Alberta's Nathan Bennett led the Golden Bears with a .625 hitting percentage for the match, while sophomore outside hitter Will Nelson led the Trojans with a .500 percentage.

USC, which plays in the UC Santa Barbara Invitational this weekend, has no seniors on the team, and is returning all five starters from last season.

The Trojans went 17-17 (7-12 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) last season in Head Coach Pat Power's second season.

Copyright 1999 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 136, No. 01 (Thursday, January 14, 1999), on page 25.