LOS ANGELES -- Lucas Yoder had a match-high 20 kills while hitting .410 to lead No. 9 Southern California to a 25-20, 19-25, 25-17, 25-23 win at No. 7 UCLA in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match on Saturday at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion.
USC improved to 12-8 overall and 11-8 in the MPSF, while the Bruins dropped to 14-8 overall and 11-7 in the MPSF. The victory gave USC head coach Bill Ferguson an 11-6 all-time record against the Trojans' crosstown rival.
Maddison McKibbin added 12 kills, 8 digs and 3 blocks for the Trojans, while Tanner Jansen had 10 kills and 8 digs and Micah Christenson had 10 digs and 3 aces and Henry Cassiday had a match-leading 12 digs.
For UCLA, Gonzalo Quiroga had 15 kills, 11 digs and 2 aces and Jackson Bantle added 12 kills and 11 digs.
USC hit .311 in the match to UCLA's .254. The Trojans served 6 aces.
USC used a 4-0 run, with a pair of aces by Christenson, to open up a 12-8 lead in the first set and maintained a comfortable margin the rest of the way while hitting .483. UCLA got a quick 5-3 lead in the second set, extended it to 10-6 and held off the Trojans, who closed to within 16-15 but could never get the lead. In the third set, USC scored back-to-back points to take a 9-8 lead and steadily built on it while hitting .407. The Trojans forged an 8-5 lead in the fourth set and built it to 16-11, then held off a late Bruin charge.
