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Bukovec, Strange become fourth USC pair to earn Pac-12 weekly award

Apr 18, 2016
USC Athletics

SAN FRANCISCO - Junior Sophie Bukovec and senior Alexa Strange swept all four of their matches last week to become the fourth USC duo to claim a Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Pair of the Week award during the conference’s inaugural season.

Bukovec, from Toronto, Canada, and Strange, from San Clemente, Calif., did not drop a set en route to a 4-0 mark at the second flight to help No. 1 USC push its win streak to 19 consecutive matches and improve to 23-2 overall.

The pair earned the clinching point in straight sets in USC’s 4-1 triumph over No. 2 Pepperdine during Strange's Senior Day on Thursday, then swept opponents from No. 12 New Mexico, ULM and host TCU as the Women of Troy won all three of their Cowtown Classic dual matches by a 5-0 score.

With four sweeps last week, Bukovec and Strange have won 15 of their last 17 matches overall to improve to 24-8 in all competitions this season, including 19-6 in dual matches.

USC, UCLA and ARIZONA remain steady at Nos. 1, 4 and 7 in both the latest AVCA Top 10 and DiG Magazine Top 20 polls, while CALIFORNIA reached a program-high No. 14 in the most recent DiG rankings. The Women of Troy (19), Bruins (eight) and Wildcats (four) have combined for 31 consecutive victories, 15 of which have come against Top 10 ranked opponents.

Five of the league’s eight programs will be in action in the final week of the regular season starting Wednesday with ARIZONA STATE hosting in-state rival No. 7 ARIZONA and No. 4 UCLA battling LMU and CSUN in Northridge, Calif. No. 1 USC and WASHINGTON will be part of a challenging seven-team field featuring five nationally ranked programs at the Outrigger Resorts Aloha Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii on Friday and Saturday.

ALSO NOMINATED: Madison Witt & McKenna Witt, ARIZ; Jourdan Parnell & Bethany Wedepohl, ASU; Amanda Benson & Taylor Agost, ORE; Megan McNamara & Nicole McNamara, UCLA; Crissy Jones & Tia Scambray, WASH.

Week of Pair of the Week
March 7 Nicolette Martin & Allie Wheeler, USC
March 14 Julie Consani & Laurel Weaver, UCLA
March 21 Kelly Claes & Sara Hughes, USC
March 28 Jenna Belton & Abril Bustamante, USC
April 4 Megan McNamara & Nicole McNamara, UCLA
April 11 Kelly Claes & Sara Hughes, USC
April 18 Sophie Bukovec & Alexa Strange, USC