Tina Graudina and Sammy Slater Named Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Pair of the Week
SAN FRANCISCO – USC beach volleyball All-Americans Tina Graudina (Jurmala, Latvia) and Sammy Slater (Ventura, Calif.) were selected as the Pac-12's Beach Volleyball Pair of the Week for the week of March 8-14, the Conference announced on Thursday, March 18.
A newly-formed pair this season, Graudina and Slater are tabbed for the award for the first time, but are no stranger to the honor. Graudina previously won the award once as a freshman (2018) and twice as a sophomore (2019), each time with fellow All-American Abril Bustamante. Slater was named for the award once in 2019 with partner and fellow All-American Terese Cannon.
Graudina-Slater is undefeated at the Trojans' No. 1 position (8-0) and collected a pair of straight-set victories this week to help the No. 1-ranked Women of Troy improve to 8-0 in duals. The duo first took down Mari Molina and Tyler Spriggs of No. 17 Long Beach State, 21-16, 21-12, as part of a 5-0 sweep and then defeated Iya Lindahl and Megan Rice of No. 7 Loyola Marymount, 21-17, 21-19, in another 5-0 sweep.
Last week, USC graduate students Hailey Harward and Julia Scoles were chosen for the Pac-12 Pair of the Week honor; and in the season's first week, sophomores Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse earned their first-career Pac-12 Pair of the Week award from the No. 5 position. USC pairs have won the Pac-12's weekly award all three times in 2021 and a conference-leading 20 times since its inception in 2016.
The top-ranked Women of Troy (8-0) host Cal State Bakersfield (1-1) on Thursday (March 18) at noon PT at Merle Norman Stadium and return to Malibu, Calif., to take on long-time rival No. 8 Pepperdine (1-6) for the fourth time this spring on Sunday (March 21) at 2 p.m. PT.
NOTE: All home USC beach volleyball competitions at Merle Norman Stadium will be conducted in accordance with the Pac-12 COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee health and safety recommendations and guidelines, available at Pac-12.com/health.
For more information on the USC beach volleyball team, a complete schedule, and results, please visit USCTrojans.com/beach. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow the team on Instagram and on Twitter @USCBeach.