No. 1 USC Travels to Tucson for Pac-12 South Invitational
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2 0 2 1 U S C B EACH V OLLEY B ALL 2016 & 2017 NCAA Champions • 2015 AVCA Champions • 4 Pairs National Champions: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 3-Time Pac-12 Champions • 11 AVCA All-Americans • 20 AVCA All-America Awards FOR RELEASE: March 23, 2021 University of Southern California Sports Information • 3501 Watt Way • HER103 • Los Angeles, Calif. • (213) 740-8480 • Fax: (213) 740-7584 Assistant Director: Jeremy Wu • Office: (213) 740-3807 • Cell: (213) 379-3977 • E-mail: [email protected] No. 1 USC Travels To Tucson For Pac-12 South Invitational 2021 SCHEDULE AND RESULTS MATCH #11 • Saturday, March 27 • 12:45 p.m. PT 10-0 OVERALL No. 1 USC (10-0) vs. Oregon (2-2) 7-0 HOME • 2-0 AWAY • 1-0 NEUTRAL Bear Down Beach • Tucson, Ariz. AVCA POLL: T-No. 1 • CBVB POLL: No. 1 SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 4-0 (1.000) STREAK: Won 4 • LAST 10: 4-0 FEBRUARY LAST MEETING: W 5-0 (Mar. 3, 2019 • Tucson, Ariz.) 25 No. 10 Pepperdine W 4-1 TV/STREAM: Pac-12 Network No. 10 Pepperdine W 5-0 OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoDucks.com MARCH MATCH #12 • Saturday, March 27 • 7 p.m. PT 4 No. 6 Cal Poly W 5-0 No. 1 USC (10-0) vs. Utah (2-8) No. 4 UCLA W 5-0 Bear Down Beach • Tucson, Ariz. 7 vs. No. 17 Long Beach State 1 W 5-0 SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 3-0 (1.000) at No. 9 Pepperdine 1 W 4-1 STREAK: Won 3 • LAST 10: 3-0 13 No. 17 Long Beach State W 5-0 LAST MEETING: W 5-0 (Mar. 8, 2020 • Santa Monica, Calif.) No. 7 Loyola Marymount W 5-0 TV/STREAM: Pac-12 Network 18 CSU Bakersfield (USC Stream) W 5-0 OPPONENT WEBSITE: UtahUtes.com 21 at No. 8 Pepperdine W 4-1 27 vs. Oregon 2 (P12N) 12:45 p.m. vs. Utah 2 (P12N) 7 p.m. BARE E-SAND-SHELLS • USC owns three beach volleyball national championships includ- APRIL ing the first-ever NCAA title in 2016 (AVCA ‘15, NCAA ‘17). 3 Florida State (USC Stream) 11 a.m. • The Trojans have won three Pac-12 crowns (2016, ‘17, ‘19). Florida State (USC Stream) 1 p.m. • Second-year head coach Dain Blanton took the helm for the de- 4 Louisiana State (USC Stream) 11 a.m. fending Pac-12 champions in July 2019 and is 16-5 overall. Louisiana State (USC Stream) 1 p.m. • USC is ranked No. 1 in the AVCA Coaches Poll. It is the 69th time 10 vs. California 3 9 a.m. (of 69) the Trojans are ranked; USC’s 68th time in the top 5. It is also the 39th time vs. Washington 3 12:45 p.m. that the Women of Troy hold the nation’s top ranking; most all-time. 11 vs. Stanford 3 11:30 a.m. • The Trojans are 19-1 all-time in the state of Arizona with the lone loss to UCLA in vs. Arizona State 3 4:30 p.m. the 2017 Pac-12 Championship hosted by Arizona in Tucson. 16 vs. Loyola Marymount 4 12:30 p.m. • USC’s 10-0 mark is the third best start in program history. The Trojans went 32-0 to at Cal Poly 4 3:30 p.m. begin 2017 (finished 38-1) and were 28-0 in 2015; both championship seasons. 17 vs. Grand Canyon 4 3:30 p.m. vs. UCLA 4 6:30 p.m. • USC’s 10-match run equals the sixth-longest winning streak in program history. 22 at UCLA 3 p.m. • Women of Troy have received AVCA All-America notice 20 times. USC returns All- 29 Pac-12 Championship Day 1 * (P12N) TBD Americans Sammy Slater and Tina Graudina to the lineup this spring. 30 Pac-12 Championship Day 2 * (P12N) TBD MAY LOS ANGELES – The USC beach volleyball team heads to the desert this weekend for the Pac-12 South Invitational hosted by Arizona at Bear Down Beach. The No. 1 Pac-12 Championship Day 3 * (P12N) TBD 1-ranked Women of Troy (10-0) will take on Oregon (2-2) at 12:45 p.m. PT and 2 Pac-12 Championship Day 4 * (P12N) TBD Utah (2-8) at 7 p.m. on Saturday (March 27) with both contests scheduled to be 7 NCAA Championship ^ (ESPN) TBD shown live on the Pac-12 Networks. The Trojans have won 10 straight duals to 8 NCAA Championship ^ (ESPN) TBD open the season--the third best start in school history--and have racked up seven 9 NCAA Championship ^ (ESPN) TBD 5-0 victories. It is USC’s 39th time ranked atop the AVCA poll; most all-time. Two Trojan pairs have 10-0 records to match the team’s overall mark including the duo All times PST unless otherwise noted of two-time All-American junior Tina Graudina and senior All-American Sammy Bold indicates home match at Merle Norman Stadium Slater at the No. 1 position. On the bookend, sophomore twins Audrey Nourse and 1 Pepperdine Invite • Pepperdine Beach Volleyball Courts Nicole Nourse are 10-0 and on an 18-match winning streak. • Malibu, Calif. 2 Pac-12 South Invitational • Bear Down Beach • Tucson, Ariz. 3 Pac-12 North Invitational • GCU Beach Volleyball Stadium • Phoenix, Ariz. 4 Center of Effort Challenge • Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex ANTICIPATED USC LINEUP • San Luis Obispo, Calif. * Pac-12 Championship • Mapes Beach • Los Angeles, Calif. PAIRING RECORD ALL-TIME STREAK ^ NCAA Championship • Gulf Shores Beach • Gulf Shores, Ala. No. 1 :: Tina GRAUDINA/Sammy SLATER 10-0 10-0 W10 No. 2 :: Hailey HARWARD/Julia SCOLES 9-1 9-1 L1 No. 3 :: Haley HALLGREN/Megan KRAFT 8-1 8-1 W4 No. 4 :: Joy DENNIS/Delaynie MAPLE 8-1 8-1 W8 @USCBeach No. 5 :: Audrey NOURSE/Nicole NOURSE 10-0 19-2 W18 2021 USC WOMEN OF TROY ## NAME HEIGHT YEAR HOMETOWN (PREVIOUS SCHOOL) 1 Harper HALLGREN 5-11 So. Southlake, Texas (Carroll HS) 3 Maja KAISER 6-0 Sr. Bulverde, Texas (Smithson Valley HS) 4 Sammy SLATER 5-10 Sr. Ventura, Calif. (Ventura HS) 5 Paige DREEUWS 5-9 Sr. San Marcos, Calif. (San Marcos HS/Hawai’i) 11 Joy DENNIS 6-0 Gr. Cypress, Calif. (Keystone Academy) 12 Haley HALLGREN 6-1 Sr. Southlake, Texas (Carroll HS) 13 Hailey HARWARD 5-9 Gr. Phoenix, Ariz. (Desert Vista HS) 14 Tina GRAUDINA 6-1 Jr. Jurmala, Latvia 15 Lauren HARRISON 5-8 Fr. Menlo Park, Calif. (Notre Dame HS) 20 Josannah VAZQUEZ 5-10 Sr. Mansfield, Texas (Lake Ridge HS/Long Beach CC) 21 Olivia BAKOS 5-9 Fr. Manhattan Beach, Calif. (Mira Costa HS) 22 Megan KRAFT 6-0 Fr. San Diego, Calif. (Torrey Pines HS) 23 Delaynie MAPLE 5-10 Fr. San Diego, Calif. (Torrey Pines HS) 24 Audrey NOURSE 5-11 So. Newport Beach, Calif. (Orange Lutheran HS) 25 Julia SCOLES 6-1 Gr. Mooresville, N.C. (South Iredell HS/Hawai’i) 30 Mollie EBERTIN 6-1 Jr. Saratoga, Calif. (Saint Francis HS) 31 Bo CHULO 6-2 Gr. Bjelovar, Croatia (Architecture Tech Zagreb/LMU) 33 Caitlin CUMMINGS 6-1 Fr. Pacifica, Calif. (Lick-Wilmerding HS) 40 Hallie CARBALLO 5-2 Fr. Laguna Beach, Calif. (Laguna Beach HS) 42 Nicole NOURSE 5-11 So. Newport Beach, Calif. (Orange Lutheran HS) HEAD COACH Dain BLANTON (2nd year), Pepperdine ‘94 ASSISTANT COACH Gustavo ROCHA (4th year), Park ‘06 VOLUNTEER ASSISTANT COACH Laurel WEAVER (2nd year), Hawai’i ‘18 USC HEAD COACH DAIN BLANTON PRONUNCIATION GUIDE Dain Blanton, an Olympic gold-medalist, is in his second season as Olivia BAKOS BAKE-ohs USC’s head coach (2021) and has an 16-5 overall record. He was the Hallie CARBALLO HAL-ee car-BALL-oh volunteer assistant coach at USC for four seasons (2015-18) when the Bo CHULO CHEW-low Trojans won the 2015 AVCA championship and the 2016 and 2017 Paige DREEUWS sounds like “blues” NCAA championships. USC also captured back-to-back (2016-17) Mollie EBERTIN EEE-ber-tin Pac-12 titles with Blanton on staff. Tina GRAUDINA gr-ow-DEE-nah Haley HALLGREN HAY-lee Blanton helped USC produce eight AVCA All-Americans and Hailey HARWARD HAY-lee coached USC’s top pair of Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes to the 2015 Maja KAISER MY-uhh AVCA Pairs Championship and the 2017 USAV Collegiate Pairs crown. Audrey/Nicole NOURSE NORSE The duo also won back-to-back Pac-12 titles in 2016 and 2017. Josannah VAZQUEZ hose-ANNA VASS-kez In 2019, Blanton was a color analyst and sideline reporter for ESPN and the Olympic Channel. Gustavo ROCHA goo-STAH-voh ROW-kah He has had a distinguished career as a sports broadcaster, covering NBA basketball, Major League Baseball, college basketball, football, and beach volleyball for networks including ESPN, NBC, ABC, FOX Sports Net, Universal Sports Network, Pac-12 Networks, Olympic Channel, and Amazon Prime. He covered beach volleyball for NBC at the 2016 Olympics. THE BLANTON FILE Blanton was the first two-time U.S. male beach volleyball Olympian. He andEric Fonoimoana VITALS won gold at the 2000 Sydney Games as the ninth seed. He then partnered with Jeff Nygaard • 16-5 overall record at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. ALMA MATER Blanton has won an NCAA title, Olympic gold, and multiple pro crowns. At Pepperdine • Pepperdine, 1994 (Public Relations) (1991-94), he won the 1992 NCAA title as a sophomore and received All-America honorable • 1992 NCAA men’s volleyball champion mention in 1994.