UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS • HER 103 • LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90089-0601 TELEPHONE: (213) 740-8480 FAX: (213) 740-7584 SPORTS INFORMATION OFFICE FOR RELEASE March 6, 2013 TIM TESSALONE, DIRECTOR NO. 3 USC WOMEN’S SAND VOLLEYBALL OPENS 2013 SEASON ON SUNDAY VERSUS NO. 4 FLORIDA STATE, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT IN NEW MERLE NORMAN STADIUM 2012 Olympic silver medalists Ross/Kessy to play exhibition when stadium is dedicated on Thursday THE FACTS The No. 3-ranked USC women's sand volleyball team (0-0) will begin its second season of play when it open its 2013 season by hosting No. 4 Florida State (0-0) and Loyola Marymount (0-0) this Sunday (March 10) in the first-ever collegiate matches in the new on-campus Merle Norman Stadium. The day will consist of 3 dual matches between the teams, as Florida State (which finished third at the 2012 AVCA National Collegiate Sand Volleyball Championships) first will take on Loyola Marymount from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., then USC will face Loyola Marymount from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (there will be a break between noon to 1 p.m.) and finally the Women of Troy will battle Florida State from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Each team dual match will consist of 5 matches between pairs, with each match being rally scoring best-of-3 sets. The Nos. 4 and 5 teams (and, if available, a No. 6 non-scoring team) will play in the first hour, followed by the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 teams in the second hour of each dual match. MERLE NORMAN STADIUM DEDICATION 2012 London Olympic beach volleyball silver medalists April Ross and Jennifer Kessy will play the first-ever match in USC’s new Merle Norman Stadium, as dedication ceremonies will be held this Thursday (March 7) at 4:30 p.m. for the new on-campus home to the Women of Troy sand volleyball team. Following the dedication hosted by USC athletic director Pat Haden, Ross and Kessy—who were All- American indoor players at USC before forming one of the world’s finest women’s beach duos ever—will play an exhibition alumni match at 5 p.m. The dedication ceremony and alumni match are free and open to the public. To RSVP, go to usc.edu/ESVP and enter Sand. ON THE INTERNET USC’s home matches will be videocast and audiocast on USCTrojans.com, with former Northeastern player/Winthrop assistant coach Paul Duchesne calling the action. USC'S NEW MERLE NORMAN STADIUM Merle Norman Stadium is the new on-campus home to the USC women's sand volleyball team. Located on the east side of campus on Figueroa Street across from the Galen Center, it features 3 courts with sand from the U.S. Olympic Training Center. The palm tree- encircled stadium also has bleachers and a grass berm for spectator seating, a scoreboard and audio system, lighting, restrooms, showers and a storage area. 2013 USC WOMEN’S SAND VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE (0-0) DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME/RESULT March 7 Alumni (exhibition) USC 5 p.m. March 10 Florida State, Loyola Marymount USC 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 14 Grand Canyon, Cal State Bakersfield USC 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. March 16 Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, UCLA USC 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 17 Loyola Marymount, UCLA USC 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. March 19 vs. Pacific Moraga, Calif. 3 p.m. March 20 at St. Mary’s Moraga, Calif. 1 p.m. March 22 Nebraska, Hawaii USC 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 26 Pepperdine USC 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. March 28 at Long Beach State Long Beach, Calif. 1 p.m. April 6 at Pepperdine Malibu, Calif. 10 a.m. April 13 vs. Santa Clara (tentative) Santa Barbara, Calif. TBA April 20 U.S.A.V. Invitational Hermosa Beach, Calif. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 21 U.S.A.V. Invitational Hermosa Beach, Calif. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 27 USA National Beach Team (exhibition) USC 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 3 AVCA Collegiate Sand Volleyball Championships Gulf Shores, Ala. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 4 AVCA Collegiate Sand Volleyball Championships Gulf Shores, Ala. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 5 AVCA Collegiate Sand Volleyball Championships Gulf Shores, Ala. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Home matches (in bold) at USC’s Merle Norman Stadium All times local to match site Schedule subject to change 2013 USC Women’s Sand Volleyball — Page 2 SERIES USC posted a pair of 5-0 home victories over 2013 USC WOMEN’S SAND VOLLEYBALL ROSTER Loyola Marymount in 2012, including in its first-ever women's sand volleyball competi- NO. NAME HGT YR. HOMETOWN (HIGH SCHOOL/LAST SCHOOL) 1 Christine Irvin 5-6 Fr. Pacific Palisades, Calif. (Marymount) tion. The Women of Troy fell 4-1 at Florida 2 Erica Muller 5-9 Fr. Irvine, Calif. (Mater Dei) State in the teams' only dual match meeting 3 Bria Russ 5-9 So. Long Beach, Calif. (Long Beach Poly) last year. 4 Natasa Siljkovic 6-3 Sr. Uzize, Serbia (School of Economy) 5* Kirby Burnham 6-2 Jr. Newport Beach, Calif. (Newport Harbor) THE PLAYERS 10 Brooke Fournier 5-8 Jr. Redondo Beach, Calif. (South Torrance/Arkansas) In marked contrast to 2012, when only a 11 Eve Ettinger 6-2 So. Santa Barbara, Calif. (Santa Barbara) handful of players on USC's inaugural 12 Katie Fuller 6-2 Sr. Olivenhain, Calif. (La Costa Canyon) women’s sand volleyball team had any 13 Kati Duddridge 5-6 So. Santa Ana, Calif. (Foothill) 15 Alexa Stonish 5-7 So. Stony Brook, NY (Ward Melville/Stetson) appreciable experience with the sand 20* Sam Hirschmann 5-10 Jr. Manhattan Beach, Calif. (Marymount) game, the 2013 Women of Troy have only 2 21 Sydney Seau 5-8 Fr. Del Mar, Calif. (The Bishop’s School) players on its 14-woman roster who came 22 Erin Kaupp 5-10 Sr. San Clemente, Calif. (San Clemente) over from the fall’s indoor squad. The 32 Stevi Robinson 5-6 Grad. Hermosa Beach, Calif. (Mira Costa/Pepperdine) majority of this USC sand team has been *Captains training outdoors since September and many of them have accomplished sand Coaches backgrounds. New faces will play a key role Anna Collier - Head Coach (2nd year) Andrew Fuller - Assistant Coach (1st year) on the 2013 Trojan squad. While 6 players Jeff Carlson - Volunteer Assistant Coach (1st year) return from 2012, only 3 of them played the Alice Chandler Hoffmann - Student Manager entire season. Among the newcomers are 3 first-year freshmen, 3 collegiate transfers (including a member of Pepperdine’s 2012 helped Pepperdine to the 2012 AVCA PRONUNCIATIONS national championship sand squad) and 2 Collegiate Sand Volleyball National former Women of Troy indoor players. The Championship after a stellar indoor career where she set the Waves’ career digs record Kirby Burnham (BURN-um) Women of Troy must replace some key Anna Collier (AWN-uh CALL-yur) and was twice the West Coast Conference’s ingredients from its debut squad. Missing Kati Duddridge (KAY-tee DUD-ridge) from 2012 are both players from USC’s No. Defensive Player of the Year. Among her Eve Ettinger (ET-ing-jer) 1 team, Geena Urango and Sara Shaw, other sand stops in 2012 were Brooke Fournier (for-NEER) which went 19-17 overall and made it to the appearances in NORCECA tournaments, Christine Irvin (ERV-in) AVCA pairs quarters. Also gone are half of as well as in the Manhattan Beach and Erin Kaupp (COWP) the Nos. 2 through 5 teams of last spring: Hermosa Beach Opens. Then there's Alexa Erica Muller (MULL-ur) Bria Russ (BREE-uh) Kelly Irvin (she joined with Kirby Burnham Stonish, a 5-7 sophomore who competed on the sand for Stetson last year, winning Sydney Seau (SAY-ow) at the No. 3 and then No. 2 spots to go 22- Natasa Siljkovic (nuh-TAW-shuh SHILL-koh-vitch) the Flight 2 title at the A-Sun Championship. 14 and also advance to the AVCA pairs Alexa Stonish (STOW-nish) quarterfinals), Natalie Hagglund (she She has played in various beach events on teamed with Katie Fuller at No. 2/3 and the East Coast. The third transfer is Brooke posted a 20-12 mark), Kendall Bateman Fournier, a 5-8 junior who was Arkansas’ starting libero in 2010 and is now making AVCA PRE-SEASON POLL (she was 13-8 with Sam Hirschmann and (March 4, 2013) 3-5 with Eve Ettinger at No. 4) and Megan her first foray onto the sand. Two ex-indoor Thornberry (18-13 with Katie Duddridge at Trojans will play on the sand for the first 1. Pepperdine No. 5). Emily Young, who was 0-2 playing time in 2013: 6-3 senior Natasa Siljkovic 2. LBSU with Erin Kaupp, also did not return. Among of Serbia, who was a backup middle blocker 3. USC USC’s 6 returnees, 6-2 junior Burnham is in her just-completed 3-year career, and 5- 4. Florida State one of the most “sand”-experienced players 9 soph Bria Russ, who was used mainly as 5. University of Hawai'i on the current roster. This past summer, a serving specialist in 2011. Joining the 6. UCLA 7. College of Charleston she competed in a pair of NORCECA events, Women of Troy as freshmen is a trio of promising players, including 1 with a strong 8.