Going West might mean going broke for the fifth-ranked Lewis men.
They lost again Thursday, this time to No. 14 USC a day after losing at No. 7 UCLA. In the only other NCAA men’s Division I-II matches Thursday, Belmont Abbey swept North Greenville in Conference Carolinas and NJIT of the EIVA swept visiting Coker.
Friday is a busy day in college volleyball, with a full slate for the men, dotted with inter-conference action, and more beach in the second weekend of the women’s season.
In Columbus, top-ranked and unbeaten Ohio State has UC San Diego of the MPSF after No. 6 UC Irvine plays No. 12 Ball State. This is the first meeting between Ohio State, riding a 41-match winning streak, and UCSD since 2011.
There are two other non-conference matches involving MPSF teams as No. 11 CSUN entertains No. 10 Loyola of the MIVA and No. 2 Long Beach State plays host to the EIVA’s George Mason.
And there are two MPSF matches with a lot at stake as No. 8 Stanford is at No. 4 Hawai’i and No. 3 BYU plays at No. 9 Pepperdine.
There is one MIVA league match when Grand Canyon goes to McKendree. Lindenwood is at King of the Conference Carolinas.
The EIVA has one league match when Princeton goes to NJIT. In non-conference matches, Charleston goes to Lincoln Memorial and Mason is at Long Beach.
In Conference Carolinas, there are three non-league matches as King plays host to Southern Virginia and Lindenwood and Limestone goes to Warner.
USC sweeps Lewis: Gianluca Grasso had 19 kills and 10 digs in the Trojans’ 25-23, 25-23, 29-27 victory played not in the Galen Center but USC’s old North Gym.
The Trojans improved to 7-12 after breaking a three-match losing streak after their fifth win against a top-10 team this season.
Lewis, which likely seriously damaged its hopes of an NCAA at-large bid, dropped to 15-5.
USC, playing without leading attacker Lucas Yoder, out with an abdominal strain, still hit .407. Lucas Lossone had nine kills and hit .333 and Andy Benesh had six kills and hit .667.
Mitch Perinar led Lewis with 13 kills and hit .407. Trevor Weiskircher added 10 kills and hit .273 as his team hit .354.
Lewis continues its West Coast swing at UCSB on Saturday.
NCAA Beach
East Meets West Invitational: This one, put on by UCLA, has a loaded field at the Manhattan Beach Pier and includes AVCA No. 1 USC, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Pepperdine, No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 Long Beach State, No. 7 Georgia State, No. 10 LSU, No. 12 Florida International and Cal Poly. USC plays FIU and LSU. Click here for the UCLA news release and full schedule of the event.
Gamecock Challenge: South Carolina, ranked 15th, welcomes in No. 11 Grand Canyon, Mercer and Jacksonville. Click here for the USC news release and schedule.
Queen’s Cup at Hawai’i: The Sandbows, ranked No. 5, entertain No. 9 Stetson and Loyola Marymount. Click here for the Hawai’i news release and schedule.
Sun Devil Challenge: Arizona State, ranked No. 12, is the host for No. 6 Arizona, New Mexico and Texas A&M Kingsville. Click here for the ASU news release and schedule.
