Klein is Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Palisadian Dillon Klein is enjoying a stellar freshman season on the USC men’s volleyball team.

On Monday, April 17, he was named Offensive Player of the Week in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation—the first time he has been so honored and the first time a Trojan has won the award this season.

In two matches against Concordia University Irvine, Klein averaged 5.38 points per set to power USC to victory in its final two regular season matches. He had 34 kills and hit .431 in the two outings (4.25 kills per set) while adding a season-high three service aces in the first match with the Golden Eagles.

Heading into the Trojans’ April 19 match against Stanford to open the MPSF Tournament, the Loyola High standout paced the squad in kills (345) and was second in both sets played (95) and service aces (20) while appearing in all 25 of the team’s matches.

The 6-foot-4 outside hitter had a season-high 29 kills February 26 in a five-set home victory over Stanford and has posted double-digit kills 19 times. USC ended the regular season 10-15 overall, 3-9 in MPSF.

Chosen the 2022 male Athlete of the Year by the Palisadian-Post, Klein earned 2021 All-CIF Division 1 First Team honors as a junior at Loyola, helping the team reach the state finals.

As a senior he was Co-Player of the Year in the Southern Section. He played for Manhattan Beach Surf Volleyball Club, making the 2021 USA Volleyball Boys Junior Olympics U18 Open All-Tournament team. He also played on the 2020 U.S. Boys Youth National Training Team.

His grandfather and longtime Palisades resident Bob Klein was a tight end on the USC football team from 1966-68 and was a first-round pick of the LA Rams, where he played eight seasons (1969-76) before finishing his NFL career with the San Diego Chargers from 1977-80.

Dillon’s father Jimmy played football (1989-90) and volleyball (1990-93) at Stanford. Dillon’s aunt, Kristin Klein Keefe, was a four-time All-American on the Stanford volleyball team (1988-91), earning 1991 National Player of the Year honors and competed in the 1996 Olympics, while his uncle Adam Keefe played basketball and volleyball at Stanford, (1988-92) and played in the NBA for Atlanta, Utah and Golden State.