Away from home, USC moved closer to staying at home for the playoffs.

Tony Ciarelli had 19 kills, Murphy Troy had 18 and Tri Bourne had 12 in his homecoming as fifth-ranked USC defeated No. 14 Hawai'i, 30-26, 30-18, 30-23, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match last night at the Stan Sheriff Center before a turnstile crowd of 1,442.

The Trojans (17-9, 13-8) needed last night's win, and also a win tonight against the Warriors to secure themselves as first-round hosts for next Saturday's MPSF playoffs.

"Tonight was a great win for us," said USC setter and Punahou graduate Riley McKibbin, who finished with 51 assists. "We're one step closer to hosting a first-round playoff match. It's extremely important. Tomorrow is a big night for us."

Tonight's match will also be an important and emotionally charged one for the Warriors. It will be the final match for Hawai'i coach Mike Wilton, who announced his retirement last week. In 17 years, Wilton's record is 315-167. It will also be the final match for seniors Jim Clar, Sean Carney, and Michael China, and Wilton plans to start his final senior class.

"We want to play good, we want to try to win," Wilton said.

Joseph Strotman had 13 kills and hit for a .310 percentage to lead the Warriors (8-18, 5-16). He added three blocks and Matt Rawson had seven kills.

"Hopefully we'll come out with a victory, but what's more important is we play as hard as we can," Strotman said. "If anything can be remembered about this season, it is playing as hard as we can and doing whatever we can to come out on top."

Clar, making just his fifth start of the season, had back-to-back kills to give the Warriors a 3-2 lead in the third set. Hawai'i held the lead until Troy's kill tied the set at 10-10.

Strotman's kill put Hawai'i ahead 11-10, but a kill by Bourne, an Academy of the Pacific graduate from Honolulu, and a Hawai'i hitting error put USC ahead 12-11.

The set was tied three more times until Hunter Current's and Ciarelli's double block gave USC the lead for good at 15-14.

After Ciarelli's kill, Bourne served four straight and had a kill out of the back row to put the Trojans ahead 20-14.

"There were times when it was a pretty even match, but Murphy went back a couple times and went off with some long (serving) runs and so did Tri," Wilton said.

Hawai'i cut the deficit to 26-22 after Bourne hit out, forcing USC to call a timeout.

Troy, who hit .455 while swinging away at opposite, had a kill to make it 27-22 and Hawai'i had two errors to make it match point.

Strotman's kill cut it to 29-23, but Ciarelli's kill ended the match.

"Murphy is just a beast on the right side," McKibbin said. "He was playing outside for us, but now he's playing opposite, which opens up the whole offense."

USC pulled away early in Set 2. McKibbin's dump shot put the Trojans ahead for good at 6-5. Troy had three kills to extend the lead to 15-8, and Bourne's kill out of the back row, one of several he had last night, made it 19-10. Hawai'i got no closer than seven points the rest of the set.

"Tri is playing unreal right now," McKibbin said. "He had some back problems at the beginning of the season, but he's playing through it now and playing unreal, and that's giving us the edge."

The Trojans rallied from a 14-12 deficit in the first set, led 18-15, but saw their lead dwindle to 18-17 after a kill by Hawai'i's Gus Tuaniga. Troy, Ciarelli and Bourne each had a kill to extend the lead to 21-17, and USC led 28-22 after Strotman hit the ball out.

But three Trojan errors and a Strotman ace help Hawai'i close to 28-26. Bourne's kill ended Hawai'i's run and Ciarelli's kill out of the back row ended Set 1.