PROVO, Utah. – Vanguard Men's Volleyball concluded the season in the quarterfinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship Tournament, with a 3-0 loss (19-25, 13-25, 21-25) to #6 USC at the Smith Fieldhouse. The Blue and Gold end the season at 12-14 overall and 8-6 in the MPSF. USC will head to the semifinals against #4 Pepperdine tomorrow, improving to 18-6, 9-5.

Grant Veldman led the team with eight kills hitting .429 (8-2-14) while also adding four digs and two aces. He finished the year as Vanguard's kill leader at 254. The trio of Braddock Duckworth, Logan Freemon and Micah Sybesma each tallied five kills each. Sybesma palmed two blocks and a pair of aces.

What Happened? The Lions opened the afternoon with a sturdy .304 (12-5-23) hitting percentage. They were matched by the Trojans, however, who came out swinging .522 (15-3-23).

Logan Freemon had the first kill of the game for either side, but USC steamed ahead with a 7-1 run to lead by five (7-2 SC). The Lions found a burst with a double block from Micah Sybesma and Grant Veldman, and Veldman followed it up with an ace to split the deficit in half.

The Blue and Gold went errorless on its next four kills, but the Trojans marched their lead up to six through the media timeout with a 3-0 run (16-10 USC). The next Veldman ace gave Vanguard something to work with, and Cole Oliver speared  down two kills from the right pin to pull VU within four (19-15 USC). Despite a pair of Trojan miscues, the four-point cushion that USC presented was never overcome by Vanguard. Their two middles, Braddock Duckworth and Sybesma, sent the final VU kills on the board before USC secured the set 25-19.

Set 2 The second frame was a hard pill to swallow for the Lions. They hit .000 (5-5-19) in the set where the Trojans stood at their tallest, with USC racking a game-high .556 (12-2-18).
VU started the set well, with just one error on their first seven points. Veldman had three kills during the stretch, and the Willy Wang dump and Sybesma's service sent the score to an 8-7 USC metric.

That was when the match shifted. The Trojans layered a 12-4 run to bolt the set shut, with Vanguard's only points during the period coming via USC errors. The Lions spent both timeouts in an effort to halt the the Trojan rhythm, but never set stake in a comeback. Freemon had the last VU kill amid a 5-1 Trojan run spread through the red zone.

Set 3 The Lions had 17 ties and five lead changes in their last stanza of the 2026 season. Both teams hit near identical clips [.375 USC - .370 VU]. Sybesma started the scoring, and Brock Henderson and Jenson Wright combined for a 2-1 lead over the Trojans. USC bled a couple of errors, but the Lions traded a pair of service misfires in what turned into a long exchange of score ties.

They were bottlenecked 12 times through the midway portion of the set, with the Lions hot on the heels out of the media timeout, 15-15. The Trojans tracked an ace to the back corner to blow through a 2-0 run and pull the first Lion timeout of the frame out of the pocket.

VU responded with a strong 4-2 strut, using kills from Sybesma and Henderson as well as a double block from the duo that leveled the scoring at 19-all.

It forced the first USC timeout of the game.

After the restart, the pairing scored an even 2-2 trade. VU's offensive engine would stall, unfortunately, and at 21-all the Trojans fueled a 4-0 run to pull away and book a ticket to the semifinals in straight sets.