Bruins and Trojans Battle Friday for Kilgour Cup
April 9, 2009
Ninth-ranked UCLA hosts No.4 USC Friday night in the 32nd Annual Kilgour Cup in Pauley Pavilion. First-serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. UCLA also will celebrate Senior Night for five of its volleyball players.
Darren Preston and Jade Machado will call the action courtside on uclabruins.com.
Promotions include a buy-one-get-one-free ticket incentive, plus a free slice of pizza for the first 100 UCLA students in attendance.
The Kilgour Cup is the nation's longest-running men's volleyball charity match, traditionally benefiting the late Kirk Kilgour and, since his passing, an on-campus UCLA department that services students with disabilities. This year, for the first time, a donation will be made to former UCLA volleyball letterman Andy Klussmann, who suffered serious injuries in a vehicular accident four years ago.
"We are thrilled to be making a donation in Andy's name this year," said UCLA Head Coach Al Scates. "As a student-athlete, Andy played in the Kilgour Cup so he knows the importance of charity. This is just one way we can help Andy and his family."
Both the Bruins and Trojans are licking the wounds of tough conference losses suffered on Wednesday night. The Bruins were swept at home by top-ranked Pepperdine; USC lost in four on the road to No.2 UC Irvine.
Earlier this season UCLA fell in four to USC at the Galen Center. The victory was USC's third straight against UCLA. The Trojans also snatched the Kilgour Cup from the Bruins last March.
Prior to Friday's match, UCLA will honor its senior players: Jamie Diefenbach, Sean O'Malley, Ryan Ratelle, D.J. Stromath and Matt Wade.