Season-high attendance of 7,771 fans had no effect on the visiting fifth-ranked Southern California men’s volleyball team.

Playing free and loose, the Trojans took home the Outrigger Invitational with a statement-making 25-21, 25-20, 26-28, 25-21 win over No. 3 Hawaii on Saturday night at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Dillon Klein, who was named the tournament Most Outstanding Player, had a team-high 21 kills, hitting .588 with one error in 34 swings, and Jack Deuchar, a senior opposite hitter and Punahou alumnus, had 15 kills and five of the Trojans’ seven aces.

Sterling Foley added 12 kills for USC, which hit .390 for the match after hitting .545 in the first set.

“We didn’t even play our best. We want to peak at the end,” USC coach Jeff Nygaard said. “We sat them down three weeks ago and we had a really strong talk and they have just continued to get better and better. This to me is the tip of the iceberg because where the real work is is in the gym and in the weight room.”

Kristian Titriyski had a match-high 23 kills for Hawaii but hit only .224 with 12 errors. Adrien Roure hit .452 with 17 kills and middles Justin Todd and Kurt Nusterer combined for 15 kills in 25 swings without an error.

UH hit .303 for the match with 23 errors and made 14 service errors with six aces.

USC had seven aces and only 10 service errors.

The loss snapped a 10-match winning streak for Hawaii, which fell to 19-2 this season in its final nonconference match.

“They played really good and we didn’t really play up to our numbers,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “In a big match like this, you hope somebody is going to elevate their game.”

UH was on the verge of getting swept for the first time since its final match last season when it held off two match points by the Trojans.

USC scored its last three points on errors by UH but couldn’t close out the set. A Titriyski kill and a double block led by Rosenthal gave UH a 26-25 lead, but Louis Sakanoko sent an errant serve way out to the right to tie the set up.

Nusterer responded with a kill and Titriyski ended a rally that USC kept alive twice with impressive digs with his 17th kill to keep everyone from going home.

USC took control of the fourth set with a 5-0 run after trailing 14-12. Klein and Deuchar combined for three straight points on kills and a Sakanoko hitting error prompted Wade to call timeout trailing 17-14.

Titriyski was blocked on the next two points and hit out on match point to end it.

“We were a little off across the board and Dillon Klein was amazing,” Wade said. “You see that in volleyball once in a while with a guy like that who is really impressive. He didn’t make an error until the fourth set. For an outside hitter, he played unbelievable.”

Deuchar ended an impressive first set for the Trojans with his third kill.

USC’s four blocks frustrated Hawaii, which had 11 combined serving and hitting errors in the set.

The Trojans led 22-16 when the Rainbow Warriors rattled off four consecutive points, prompting Nygaard to use both of his timeouts.

USC ended the run on Klein’s sixth kill in seven swings before Roure answered with a kill from the right side.

Roure’s next serve went out, however, leading to Deuchar putting USC ahead 1-0 in the match.

“I can’t say enough about getting some island love for some of the guys going out there,” Nygaard said. “Jack had a great performance. What does that mean for the team? Well, we haven’t earned anything yet, that’s how I look at it. But this was a really huge win for them, for their confidence.”

Hawaii jumped out to a 12-8 lead in the second set, but it was quickly erased with Deuchar recording back-to-back aces during a 5-1 run to even the score at 13-all.

Klein and Deuchar combined for five USC points in a row on kills and a Sakanoko service error gave USC a commanding 2-0 lead.

Hawaii has more than a week off before hosting UC San Diego on March 28 and 29 to complete a nine-match homestand.

No. 12 Ball State 3, No. 19 Penn State 2

Raje Alleyne put down a team-high 17 kills and Patrick Rodgers had four of his 14 kills in the decisive fifth set to give the Cardinals a 25-20, 20-25, 25-12, 20-25, 15-10 win over the Nittany Lions.

Peter Zurawski started at setter for Ball State (14-8) and had a match-high 46 assists and six digs.

Matthew Luoma finished with a match-high 19 kills and Will Kuhns added 15 to lead Penn State (5-13).