Box Score

LOS ANGELES - The No. 14 University of Hawai`i men's volleyball team (9-11, 6-9 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) continued their struggles on the road as they lost to the No. 12 USC Trojans (10-12, 7-9 MPSF), 30-22, 24-30, 30-26, 30-24, in four-sets Friday night at the Galen Center. It was UH's third straight MPSF road loss.

Friday's loss also had ramifications for the league standings. UH was one game ahead of USC entering tonight's match and now slid down to ninth place. USC takes UH's spot at eighth place. The top eight teams make the MPSF tournament next month and the Warriors only have seven matches left on the season.

UH was led by junior James Clar who had a team-high 16 kills and hit .333. Freshman Joshua Walker was second with 12. Junior Sean Carney had 45 assists and sophomore Ric Cervantes recorded 15 digs.

The Trojans dominated the first game and won 30-22. The Warriors were within two at 17-15 off a Steven Grgas solo block, but USC went on a 5-0 run to stymie UH.

The Warriors bounced back in game two and Southern California never had the lead as UH won 30-24. The Trojans were within one point of the Warriors nine times and both teams were tied seven times. A kill by Clar gave UH a comfortable 25-21 lead and they never looked back.

UH had difficulty in the third stanza and could not sustain any momentum and lost 30-26. The Trojans opened up a big lead at 17-11 off a 5-1 run. The Warriors got within four at 25-21 with a triple block but it would not be enough. UH was only able to manage consecutive points four times and had 14 kills on 44 attempts (.182).

Southern California pulled away from UH in the fourth game and took the match, 30-24. USC was only up one, 20-19, but manufactured a 4-0 run to end any hope of a Warrior comeback.

The Trojans and Warriors meet again tomorrow night at the Galen Center, March 22, at 7:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. HST).

-UH-