Troy’s career night leads USC past UH
From staff and wire reports
LOS ANGELES » Old habits die hard. And Hawaii's old habit of giving up runs of points killed the Warriors' chance to move up in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings last night.
No. 14 Hawaii had no answer for USC freshman Murphy Troy, whose career-high 32 kills led the Trojans to a 30-22, 24-30, 30-26, 30-24 victory at the Galen Center.
It took 2 hours and 4 minutes for USC to move ahead of Hawaii into eighth place in the MPSF. Only the top eight teams make the playoffs.
The Warriors (9-11, 6-9 MPSF) could reverse that with a win tonight over the Trojans (10-12, 7-9). The first whistle is at 4 p.m. Hawaii time.
"I thought we took care of business tonight and we'll need to do it again if we want to repeat the outcome," USC coach Bill Ferguson said. "The keys were to side-out efficiently and to stop any runs. Murphy had a great night and 69 digs is the most I can remember while I've been here."
Troy hit .460 and added 12 digs. Freshman hitter Tri Bourne (AOP '07), making his first career start, had a match-high 20 digs.
Hawaii, the top digging team in the MPSF, was outdug 69-44. The Warriors finished with a 17.5-15 edge in blocks, led by Matt Rawson's nine.
Rawson, who had eight kills, re-injured his shoulder late in Game 4, but was expected to play tonight. The same cannot be said of UH's kill leader, hitter Jim Clar. He also re-injured his shoulder late in Game 4, finishing with a team-high 16 kills.
"We just didn't show up tonight at all," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "We need to make an emotional investment tomorrow, come ready to play."
The Trojans broke open a tight Game 1, expanding their 17-15 lead to 22-15 on two kills by Juan Figueroa. The Warriors never got closer than five the rest of the way, the last at 25-20.
Hawaii held off one game point, but not a second, with Troy putting down his seventh kill of the game to finish it off. Troy hit .700 with no errors on 10 swings; Figueroa hit .714 with five kills and no errors in seven attempts.
The Warriors finally got a handle on both Troy and Figueroa in Game 2, with Rawson and Jake Schkud stuffing Troy to give Hawaii a 9-8 lead. SC was able to earn ties but never the lead, with Troy keeping the Trojans close until 22-21.
Hawaii finally gained control, scoring three straight points to take a 28-23 advantage. The teams traded points before Clar put down the Warriors' first swing at game point to even the match.
Behind the serving of Andrew Vernon, USC quickly earned a 5-1 advantage in Game 3. The Warriors got as close as 12-10, only to have Bourne serve three straight as the Trojans pulled away at 16-10.
Hawaii battled back to 28-25, but Troy's 22nd kill gave USC game point. Rawson and Schkud again blocked Troy to hold off the inevitable for one point only to have Hunter Current put down one of his 10 kills.
The Warriors stayed close in Game 4 until 20-19. Troy and Figueroa combined for five unanswered points, giving the Trojans a 25-19 lead.
Hawaii never got closer than 27-23, losing both Rawson and Clar to shoulder injuries. Figueroa gave USC its second straight win over Hawaii with his 20th kill.
Joshua Walker added 12 kills and Ric Cervantes 15 digs for the Warriors.
MPSF standings
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
|
GB |
W-L |
| Long Beach State |
14 |
2 |
.875 |
|
-- |
19-3 |
| CSU Northridge |
13 |
3 |
.813 |
|
1 |
18-4 |
| BYU |
12 |
4 |
.750 |
|
2 |
17-4 |
| Stanford |
9 |
7 |
.563 |
|
2 1/2 |
14-7 |
| UCLA |
9 |
7 |
.563 |
|
2 1/2 |
14-10 |
| Pepperdine |
9 |
8 |
.529 |
|
5 1/2 |
9-8 |
| UC Irvine |
7 |
9 |
.438 |
|
7 |
11-12 |
| USC |
7 |
9 |
.438 |
|
7 |
11-12 |
| Hawaii |
6 |
9 |
.400 |
|
7 1/2 |
9-11 |
| UCSB |
6 |
10 |
.375 |
|
8 |
8-12 |
| UC San Diego |
3 |
13 |
.188 |
|
11 |
7-15 |
| Pacific |
1 |
15 |
.063 |
|
13 |
2-18 |
Yesterday
Long Beach State def. BYU 30-25, 30-26, 28-30, 30-24
USC def. Hawaii, 30-22, 24-30, 30-26, 30-24
Pacific def. New Jersey Tech 30-24, 31-33, 30-23, 33-31
Today
Hawaii at USC, 4 p.m. Hawaii time
Cal Baptist at Pepperdine
New Jersey Tech at Pacific
USC def. Hawaii
30-22, 24-30, 30-26, 30-24
Warriors (9-11, 6-9 MPSF)
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct |
d |
bs |
ba |
pts |
| Rawson |
4 |
8 |
1 |
13 |
.538 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
13.0 |
| Grgas |
4 |
4 |
0 |
12 |
.333 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
8.0 |
| Clar |
4 |
16 |
3 |
39 |
.333 |
6 |
1 |
5 |
19.5 |
| Carney |
4 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
.000 |
4 |
0 |
5 |
3.5 |
| Walker |
4 |
12 |
9 |
44 |
.068 |
7 |
0 |
2 |
13.0 |
| Schkud |
4 |
5 |
4 |
23 |
.043 |
6 |
0 |
3 |
7.5 |
| Cervantes |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
15 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
| Frank |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
| Brizuela |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
| Zemljak |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
| Dyer |
1 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
.143 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3.0 |
| Totals |
4 |
49 |
20 |
144 |
.201 |
44 |
4 |
27 |
67.5 |
Trojans (10-12, 7-9 MPSF)
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct |
d |
bs |
ba |
pts |
| Vernon |
4 |
7 |
2 |
20 |
.250 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
10.5 |
| Troy |
4 |
32 |
9 |
50 |
.460 |
12 |
0 |
2 |
33.0 |
| Figueroa |
4 |
20 |
12 |
45 |
.178 |
17 |
1 |
4 |
24.0 |
| Bourne |
4 |
6 |
8 |
26 |
-.077 |
20 |
0 |
3 |
7.5 |
| Killian |
4 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
.333 |
7 |
1 |
5 |
4.5 |
| Current |
4 |
10 |
1 |
15 |
.600 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
13.5 |
| Schellenberg |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
| Pavlovich |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
| Morris |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
| McKibbin |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
| Jones |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
| Anderson |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
| Totals |
4 |
76 |
32 |
159 |
.277 |
69 |
3 |
24 |
93.0 |
|
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills + blocks + aces)
Aces -- Hawaii (1): Schkud. USC (2): Vernon, Figueroa. Assists --Hawaii (48): Carney 45, Cervantes 2, Grgas. USC (71): Killian 67, Morris 3, Troy.
T -- 2:04. Officials -- Burt Fuller, Greg Leung. A -- 450.
