MĀNOA — The USC men's volleyball team made quick work of Belmont Abbey in a 25-18, 25-20, 25-21 sweep on Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center, setting up a national semifinal showdown against the University of Hawai‘i.
Friday's match between the Trojans and Crusaders was a standalone contest in an NCAA regional hosted by UH. Although the Rainbow Warriors did not compete on Friday night, a turnstile crowd of 2,903 still showed up to take in the first NCAA Tournament match to take place on O‘ahu since 2004.
With the win, the Trojans are set to take on Hawai‘i on Saturday at 4 p.m., with the winner advancing to the Final Four on May 9-11 in Los Angeles.
"I hadn't even considered (Saturday's) matchup, because we have to earn our way to get into there," USC men's head coach Jeff Nygaard said following the match. "It's a real good confidence builder going into the matchup. We should have played them earlier in the year, but now we get the opportunity to play against Hawai‘i, so we're looking forward to it."
As Nygaard alluded to, Hawai‘i and USC were part of a four-team NIL tournament in February that was eventually canceled. The Rainbow Warriors and Trojans last played each other on March 15, 2025, a four-set win for the Trojans in the championship match of the Outrigger Invitational. In that match, USC outside hitter Dillon Klein punished the Rainbow Warriors for 21 kills. A year later, Klein, now a senior, remains the top offensive option for the Trojans.
"That was last year. I'm looking forward to the (Saturday's) game, though," Klein said when asked about his performance agains the 'Bows in 2025. "It was loud. There was a lot of green everywhere. But other than that, I mean, it's a rectangle with a net and a ball. Looking forward to playing some more volleyball tomorrow.
"The fans here are obviously very electric, and the atmosphere is second to none. ... The fans can be nice, they can be brutal, so I guess we're just gonna have to see."
As of Friday night, 9,723 tickets were sold ahead of Saturday's showdown between the Rainbow Warriors and Trojans. The record for attendance in an NCAA men's tournament match is 9,822 in 1998, back when UCLA and Pepperdine competed against each other in the national championship at the Stan Sheriff Center.
"It's always fun to play in front of our fans at home, especially a big game like this, hopefully 10,000 strong," said star Hawai‘i setter Tread Rosenthal, who was named the Big West Player of the Year on Monday.
As the national No. 2 seed, the Rainbow Warriors (27-5) will be rested and have home court advantage against the Trojans (20-7). But in order to advance, the 'Bows know they'll have to contain Klein in order to do so.
"They're a great team. Dillon Klein is one of the best outsides the country," Hawai‘i outside hitter Louis Sakanoko said. "We have all the pieces to beat them, and then we just need to show and prove that we're a good team."
For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
