Senior Dan Rhodes shook off a shaky start to amass 19 kills as seventh-seeded Cal State Northridge beat eighth-seeded USC, 36-34, 30-23, 30-28, last night in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament men's volleyball play-in match at Northridge, Calif.

The Matadors (18-14) advance to Saturday's quarterfinal round, where they will play at second-seeded Brigham Young. The Trojans finished the season at 12-16.

Sixth-seeded Hawai'i will play at third-seeded UC Irvine in Saturday's quarterfinal round.

Rhodes had four kills and hit .067 in Game 1 before notching 15 kills in the next two games. Eric Vance added 14 kills and James Lischer 11 for the Matadors. Libero Isaac Kneubuhl, a Kamehameha Schools graduate, contributed a team-high 11 digs.