Lewis sends Trojans to season-ending loss in first round

Pepperdine beats Princeton in five games to advance to the NCAA Final Four.

There were no tears in the locker room, no feelings of melancholy after the USC men’s volleyball team suffered a season-ending loss in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Instead, there was pride. “For what we’ve accomplished this season,” coach Jeff Nygaard said. “What these young men next to me have done leadership down. How they’ve imprinted the team and the culture with hard work … everything necessary for us to get to where we were.”

The Trojans fell to Lewis University, a private Catholic school with an enrollment of 6,800 and located in Romeoville, Ill., 3-1 at Long Beach State on Tuesday night. The Flyers advance to the semifinals where they will face No. 1-seed Hawaii at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

For USC, the loss was an anticlimactic end to an odds-defying season.

The Trojans had not reached the NCAA tournament since 2012, and posted an 8-20 record the year before. But this season was different. In the Trojans’ chemistry and their work ethic. Redshirt senior Jack Wyett said there used to be “sense that we had a hopeless season in front of us.”

This year, that feeling was gone.

“People are starting to believe that we actually have the talent to do something,” Wyett said before the tournament.

USC had reason to be optimistic after the first set. Stifling blocks and several overpowering kills gave the Trojans an early narrow lead. As the set stretched on, USC extended its lead with a 7-3 run, bolstered by three kills from Wyett and an ace by Chris Hall, to take fivepoint lead. The Trojans won the first set 25-20.

In the second set, USC was hindered by errors, including three that propelled Lewis to turn an 8-8 tie into a four-point lead. USC scrambled with shots that bounced out while Lewis only grew more aggressive. The Flyers cruised to a 25-18 victory in the second set, tying the match.

Their energy only escalated.

Lewis claimed an immediate and convincing 10-4 lead that grew as the third set stretched on. USC narrowed the gap slightly, but not enough to overcome the early deficit.

Lewis won 25-19 to take a 2-1 set lead.

With their season on the line, the Trojans rose. The final game remained neck-in-neck, with USC recording its highest hitting percentage since the first set, at .242. The Trojans took a 22-20 lead with a block and a kill by Gianluca Grasso, who totaled a team-leading 16 kills. Lewis called a timeout.

Lewis rallied for a 5-1 run, and for the first time in the set, the Trojans had no answers. The Flyers’ blockers ended USC’s season by stuffing Wyett’s attempted spike.

USC committed 24 errors in the match, hitting .238.

“We know we didn’t play our best match tonight,” senior Ryan Moss said.

The team huddled together when the match ended, then shook hands with the triumphant Flyers. The Trojans were silent, sullen, but did not seem discouraged.

They proved to themselves they are capable of greatness, a lesson that will last longer than any disappointment at the loss.

That feat, at least, is worth celebrating.

Pepperdine headed to the Final Four

In took five games, but Pepperdine beat Princeton 25-23, 19-25, 25-16, 22-25, 15-8 to advance to the NCAA semifinals. The Waves will face defending national champion and No. 2-seeded Long Beach State at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.