Fresh off of its win against Pepperdine, undefeated No. 5 USC (3-0, 2-0 MPSF) carried the momentum and dominated against No. 12 Stanford (2-3, 1-1 MPSF). The Trojans swept the Cardinal 25-26, 27-25, 25-19. The second set—the most intense—had 18 tie scores and 9 lead changes, whereas the other two sets only had 2 tie scores apiece. 

About halfway through the first set, it became obvious that with the momentum on their side, the Trojans are nearly unstoppable. Senior opposite Cristian Rivera and freshman outside hitter Larry Tuileta kicked off the offense for the Trojans with two huge kills. Unfortunately, Rivera came out with an injury and was replaced by junior opposite Josh Kirchner. 

Stanford tried to match their intensity, but just couldn’t keep up. With powerful serves from senior setter Micah Christenson and huge kills from redshirt sophomore outside hitter Christopher Orenic, the Trojans ran away with the match 25-16.

Similar to the match against Pepperdine, Christenson’s hybrid serve proved to be too much for the Cardinal to handle. Although he didn’t have as many aces as in the Pepperdine match (five vs. Pepperdine, one vs. Stanford), the Cardinal couldn’t return the ball to set up their offense, playing into the Trojans’ favor. 

The second set was by far the most competitive of the night. The Trojans out-blocked the Cardinal early on in the set, proving that when they are focused at the net they’re almost guaranteed points. Similar theme on the offensive side of the ball; senior middle blocker Robert Feathers and Kirchner dominated at the net—five and six kills, respectively—to keep the attacking pressure against Stanford. 

Both teams were hustling all over their respective sides, but the Cardinal started to make up their deficit against the Trojans. Towards the backend of the match, there was tie score after tie score. 

Christenson, one of three team captains, commented about how they need to keep their energy solid throughout each set to keep the other team from “making a surge” and catching up on a lead.

“We got a little complacent,” Christenson said. “But we’re happy with the win and moving on to the next one.”

SEE MORE: Trojans Topple Waves In Four Sets

The Galen Center was filled with energy and support for the Trojans. In matching fashion to the end of the first set, Orenic put the second set away with a smashing cross-court kill. 

Stanford jumped out to a quick lead in the third set at 4-1, but the Trojans pushed back and took over the lead at 7-6 and ran with it from there. USC brought the intensity that they had in the first set and built upon in the second, but Stanford just couldn’t keep up with their level of play. The Cardinal tried to recover towards the end of the set, but the Trojans put them away 25-19.

Tuileta, Orenic, Feathers, and Kirchner each led the team with nine kills and sophomore middle blocker Andy Benesh had six on the night. The multitude of offense weapons proved successful for the Trojans. If Stanford was able to get the timing down on Trojan, Christenson could just set one of the others and throw Stanford off their defensive game.

Looking forward to their next match, Christenson pointed out that “it’s the little things”—passing, blocking, setting—that can be improved upon.

“I don’t think there’s one blaringly thing,” Christenson said. “But we definitely can improve.”

For head coach Bill Ferguson, he acknowledges the “functional depth” of his team.

“There’s going to be different guys who can step up,” Ferguson said. “And can come in and help us out.”

This dominating win should boost the undefeated Trojans higher in the MPSF ranking. Their powerful offensive attack and unwavering defense should carry them deep into the season and keep them high in the rankings. 

The Trojans face UC San Diego (1-3, 0-2 MPSF) on Thursday and No. 3 UC Irvine (5-1, 1-0 MPSF) on Friday for their first road matches of 2015. 

Contact Staff Reporter Jodee Sullivan here and on Twitter here.