Trojans fail to qualify for Mountain Pacific Sports Federation final after losing to Gauchos by 3-1
A huge amount of disappointment filled the locker room as the University of Southern California men’s volleyball team filed in after losing the match on Thursday. The team that the Trojans lost to was the University of California, Santa Barbara and the match
that they lost was the Final Four of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match.
To make it harder for the Trojans to accept the defeat is the past excellent record that they entered the semi finals with. USC is ranked as the number one team and were unquestioningly the favorite ones in the competition. They have been putting on spectacular
performances to delight the crowd as well as their fans. All through the season, the Trojans had not suffered a defeat that did not come after five long and thrilling sets. However, the last one that USC incurred was handed out to them in four sets. The disappointment
that goes with the defeat was felt by the Trojan fans everywhere, not just in the gym of the State College.
By the time that the Gauchos had done their job on the Trojans and secured a seat to the final of the MPSF, the scoreboard showed the final set scores that stood at 29-27, 24-26, 25-15 and 25-18.
Despite having to accept a halt to their onward march to the final, the Trojans are not going back home with a shabby record. They have been able to secure a total of 23 victories which have come at an impressively low cost of suffering four defeats.
The start of the first set of the game promised a tremendous amount of competition as both the teams were playing volleyball at a high level. There was a lot of push and pull as neither the Trojans nor the Gauchos were letting each other pull up ahead. No
team let the other take the lead for a long period of time.
As the match reached its final stages, the fight between the two became more intense. However, near the end of the game, the number four ranked UCSB team was able to push past and beg the first set of the match at 29-27.
The loss of the first set did not sit well with the Trojans and they seemed determined in the second to take matters into their own hands. The Trojans were able to remind the number four ranked Gauchos why USC was ranked as the number one team as the secured
the second set of the game in commendable fashion at 26-24.
With both teams on level ground at the start of the third set, it became crucial to seal a win in order to put pressure on the other team. Unfortunately for the Trojans, it was the Gauchos who were able to do this by winning the third and then the fourth
sets at 25-15 and 25-18 respectively.
The final of the MPSF is scheduled to take place on the coming Saturday. The Gauchos will be competing with Ohio State for the title.
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