Senior outside hitter Dillon Klein delivered a dominant all-around performance with a season-high 27 kills on 40 swings with just one error to hit .650 to lead No. 5 USC to a four-set victory over No. 18 Princeton on Friday night at Galen Center.
Klein totaled 30.5 points, adding seven digs, three blocks and two service aces to pace the Trojans, who hit .438 as a team and controlled the net in a 25-17, 20-25, 26-24, 25-18 win. The Trojans improved to 3-0 on the season, while Princeton fell to 0-2 after losing to UC Irvine earlier in the week.
“[Dillion Klein] had an astronomical night,” head coach Jeff Nygaard said. “That performance kept pressure on [Princeton] the whole way, and over time we found a way to get it done.”
USC posted advantages in kills (58-55), assists (57-54), digs (38-30), service aces (6-4) and blocks (13.0-8.5), recording its first double-digit blocking performance of the season.
The Trojans set the tone early, scoring nine kills on their first 10 attacks and hitting .800 in the opening set. Klein went a perfect 4-for-4, while redshirt sophomore middle blocker Wesley Smith added three kills and helped anchor a defense that produced five blocks. USC held Princeton to a .192 hitting percentage and took the first set 25-17.
“We kind of landslided [set] one,” said Nygaard. “Sometimes when you play that well and hit that effectively, it’s almost a kiss of death for the next [set]. They came out with high energy and just turned it loose, and it worked for them. They kept going to what was working, and why wouldn’t they? It was on us to make plays.”
Princeton answered with its strongest stretch of the night in the second set. The Tigers never trailed, hitting .577 with 16 kills and just one error behind junior setter Nolan Kelly, who finished the match with 52 assists. Despite eight kills and an ace from Klein, USC committed six attacking errors and was outblocked 5-1 in the frame as Princeton evened the match with a 25-20 win.
Set three proved to be the turning point. The teams traded blows with 11 ties and five lead changes before USC closed the set on a late surge to pull out a 26-24 victory. Klein poured in 10 kills on 13 swings in the set, while sophomore outside hitter Christian Connell added four kills and Smith chipped in three more. USC’s defense stepped up with four blocks and 14 digs, holding Princeton to .286 hitting.
The Trojans carried that momentum into the fourth set and never trailed. Klein added five more kills, and Connell converted four of seven swings as USC hit .481. Service pressure from Klein, junior setter Caleb Blanchette and Connell produced three aces, with Connell’s serve setting up match point before the Trojans closed it out.
Smith matched his career high with 15 points, posting 10 kills without an error on 17 attempts and equaling a career-best eight blocks. Blanchette directed the offense with 49 assists while adding nine digs, two aces and a block. Connell finished with nine kills, a service ace and four digs, while sophomore libero Johnny Dykstra recorded eight digs.
“We’ve got guys who will just keep banging the ball, and eventually we’ll put it away,” Blanchette said. “It was nice to play against a team that really challenged us. This was probably the first game where we really had to buckle down, come within ourselves, and pull it out.”
Princeton was led by senior pin Owen Mellon, who finished with 20 kills on .417 hitting, along with six digs and three blocks. Senior pin Andrew Werner added 14 kills, and sophomore pin Ambrose Engling chipped in nine. Junior middle blocker Tristan Whitfield recorded five blocks, and senior middle blocker Ryan Vena contributed six kills and a service ace.
USC improved to 6-0 all-time against Princeton and moved to 2-0 at home this season. The Trojans continue their five-match homestand hosting Fort Valley State on Saturday Jan. 24.