2021 Usc Beach Volleyball
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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 2, 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. 3 USC Set For Four Top-20 Duals This Week 2021 SCHEDULE AND RESULTS MATCH #3 • Thursday, March 4 • 12:15 p.m. PT 2-0 OVERALL No. 3 USC (2-0) vs. No. 6 Cal Poly (3-1) 2-0 HOME • 0-0 AWAY • 0-0 NEUTRAL Merle Norman Stadium • Los Angeles, Calif. AVCA POLL: No. 3 • CBVB POLL: No. 1 SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 3-0 (1.000) STREAK: Won 3 • LAST 10: 3-0 FEBRUARY LAST MEETING: W 4-1 (April 18, 2019 • Merle Norman) 25 No. 10 Pepperdine W 4-1 OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoPoly.com No. 10 Pepperdine W 5-0 MATCH #4 • Thursday, March 4 • 2:30 p.m. PT MARCH No. 3 USC (2-0) vs. No. 4 UCLA (2-0) 4 No. 6 Cal Poly 12:15 p.m. Merle Norman Stadium • Los Angeles, Calif. No. 4 UCLA 2:30 p.m. SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 12-11 (.522) 7 vs. No. 17 Long Beach State 1 12 p.m. STREAK: Lost 3 • LAST 10: 3-7 at No. 9 Pepperdine 1 2 p.m. LAST MEETING: L 3-2 (March 11, 2020 • Merle Norman) 13 Long Beach State 12:15 p.m. OPPONENT WEBSITE: UCLABruins.com Loyola Marymount 2:30 p.m. 18 CSU Bakersfield 12 p.m. 2021 PEPPERDINE INVITE 21 at Pepperdine 2 p.m. Zuma Beach • Malibu, Calif. 27 vs. Oregon 2 (P12N) 12:45 p.m. vs. Utah 2 (P12N) 7 p.m. MATCH #5 • Sunday, March 7 • 12 p.m. PT 28 vs. Washington 2 (P12N) 12:45 p.m. vs. UCLA 2 (P12N) 5:45 p.m. No. 3 USC (2-0) vs. No. 17 Long Beach State (1-1) SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 8-5 (.615) APRIL STREAK: Won 7 • LAST 10: 7-3 3 Florida State 11 a.m. LAST MEETING: W 5-0 (April 11, 2019 • Merle Norman) Florida State 1 p.m. OPPONENT WEBSITE: LongBeachState.com 4 Louisiana State 11 a.m. Louisiana State 1 p.m. MATCH #6 • Sunday, March 7 • 2 p.m. PT 10 vs. California 3 8 a.m. No. 3 USC (2-0) at No. 9 Pepperdine (0-2) vs. Arizona 3 (P12N) 11 a.m. SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 17-13 (.567) 11 at Stanford 3 (P12N) 1 p.m. STREAK: Won 5 • LAST 10: 7-3 vs. Arizona State 3 2 p.m. LAST MEETING: W 5-0 (Feb. 25, 2021 • Merle Norman) 16 Center of Effort Challenge 4 TBD OPPONENT WEBSITE: PepperdineWaves.com 17 Center of Effort Challenge 4 TBD 22 at UCLA 3 p.m. 29 Pac-12 Championship Day 1 * (P12N) TBD BARE E-SAND-SHELLS 30 Pac-12 Championship Day 2 * (P12N) TBD • USC owns three beach volleyball national championships includ- ing the first-ever NCAA title in 2016 (AVCA ‘15, NCAA ‘17). MAY • The Trojans have won three Pac-12 crowns (2016, ‘17, ‘19). 1 Pac-12 Championship Day 3 * (P12N) TBD • Second-year head coach Dain Blanton took the helm for the de- 2 Pac-12 Championship Day 4 * (P12N) TBD fending Pac-12 champions following the retirement of two-time AVCA National Coach of the Year Anna Collier in July 2019. 7 NCAA Championship ^ (ESPN) TBD • USC is ranked No. 3 in the AVCA Coaches Poll. It is the 66th time (of 66) that the 8 NCAA Championship ^ (ESPN) TBD Trojans are ranked; USC’s 65th time ranked in the top 5. 9 NCAA Championship ^ (ESPN) TBD • The Trojans are 59-9 all-time at Merle Norman Stadium. USC is 11-7 all-time in matches played at Zuma Beach in Malibu, Calif. (2-7 against Pepperdine). All times PST unless otherwise noted • USC players have received AVCA All-America notice 20 times. The Trojans return Bold indicates home match at Merle Norman Stadium 1 Pepperdine Invite • Zuma Beach • Malibu, Calif. All-American Sr. Sammy Slater and All-American Jr. Tina Graudina. 2 Pac-12 South Invitational • Bear Down Beach • Tucson, Ariz. 3 Pac-12 North Invitational • Beach VB Stadium • Stanford, Calif. 4 Center of Effort Challenge • Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex • San Luis Obispo, Calif. * Pac-12 Championship • Mapes Beach • Los Angeles, Calif. ANTICIPATED USC LINEUP ^ NCAA Championship • Gulf Shores Beach • Gulf Shores, Ala. PAIRING RECORD ALL-TIME STREAK No. 1 :: Tina GRAUDINA/Sammy SLATER 2-0 2-0 W2 No. 2 :: Hailey HARWARD/Julia SCOLES 2-0 2-0 W2 No. 3 :: Joy DENNIS/Haley HALLGREN 1-0 12-6 W2 @USCBeach No. 4 :: Megan KRAFT/Delaynie MAPLE 1-0 1-0 W1 No. 5 :: Audrey NOURSE/Nicole NOURSE 2-0 11-2 W10 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 6-0 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 8-5 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 • 8-5 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. Blanton won 11 beach tournaments, including nine AVP championships • 1994 All-America honorable mention and two FIVB titles. In 2003, he and Nygaard were the AVP Team of the Year and Blanton was the AVP’s Best Offensive Player. He was the first male African-American to win a major HONORS & AWARDS beach volleyball event when he won the 1997 AVP Hermosa Grand Slam. He and Kent • 2015 AVCA Championship, USC Steffes won bronze medals at the 1997 Beach Volleyball World Championships. • 2016 NCAA Championship, USC • 2017 NCAA Championship, USC Blanton was the 1990 Orange County Boys’ Volleyball Player of the Year at Laguna Beach (Calif.) High, where he was also an All-State basketball player. In 1997, Blanton started PRO BEACH CAREER a charity called Dain’s Day at the Beach; and he has spent time mentoring students • 2000 Olympic gold medalist as a motivational speaker through his non-profit organization Getting to Gold.