No. 3 USC Beach Volleyball Set For Pac-12 South Invitational Tests

LOS ANGELES – The No. 3-ranked USC beach volleyball team (12-1) brings its 11-dual win streak to the desert for a trio of matchups at the Pac-12 South Invitational this week. The Women of Troy will face Utah (4-4), Arizona State (10-6), and Washington (3-3), at Bear Down Beach in Tucson, Ariz., in a preview of the site of the 2022 Pac-12 Championship. The Trojans hold a combined 23-0 record against their three opponents and claimed 5-0 sweeps in each of their last meetings with the Utes, the Devils, and the Huskies. All matches will be shown live on the Pac-12 Mountain regional network.

2022 PAC-12 SOUTH INVITATIONAL
LIVE TV: Pac-12 Mountain (Anne Marie Anderson, Nicole Branagh, Camryn Irwin, & Holly McPeak)

MATCH #14 • Saturday, March 26 • 2 p.m. PT
No. 3 USC (12-1) vs. Utah (4-4)
Bear Down Beach • Tucson, Ariz.
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 4-0 (1.000)
STREAK: Won 4 • LAST 10: 4-0
LAST MEETING: W 5-0 (Mar. 27, 2021 • Tucson, Ariz.)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UtahUtes.com

MATCH #15 • Saturday, March 26 • 7 p.m. PT
No. 3 USC (12-1) vs. Arizona State (10-6)
Bear Down Beach • Tucson, Ariz.
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 13-0 (1.000)
STREAK: Won 13 • LAST 10: 10-0
LAST MEETING: W 5-0 (April 11, 2021 • Phoenix, Ariz.)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: TheSunDevils.com

MATCH #16 • Sunday, March 27 • 11:45 a.m. PT
No. 3 USC (12-1) vs. Washington (3-3)
Bear Down Beach • Tucson, Ariz.
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 6-0 (1.000)
STREAK: Won 6 • LAST 10: 6-0
LAST MEETING: W 5-0 (April 10, 2021 • Phoenix, Ariz.)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoHuskies.com

BARE E-SAND-SHELLS

• Defending champion USC owns four national championships including the first NCAA title in 2016 (AVCA '15, NCAA '17, '21).
• The Women of Troy also own three Pac-12 crowns (2016, '17, '19).
• Third-year head coach Dain Blanton took the helm for the Women of Troy in July 2019 and is 48-10 overall.
• USC has recorded eight 5-0 sweeps of opponents this spring for a total of 120 all-time clean sweeps in program history.
• The Trojans are 25-1 all-time in the state of Arizona, which includes an 11-1 record in the city of Tucson. USC is 7-0 in Phoenix and 7-0 in Tempe.
• Tina Graudina became the 10th Trojan to collect 100-career with her victory at FIU last week. She is now 103-9 all-time. Sammy Slater has 99 wins.
• 13 different Women of Troy have received AVCA All-America notice for a total of 24 certificates. USC returns four All-Americans in 2022 including captains Julia Scoles, Sammy Slater, and Tina Graudina, and So. Megan Kraft.
• The Women of Troy welcome three transfers to the 2022 roster, all of whom have experience at the No. 1 positions at their previous schools: Emily Hansen (CSU Bakersfield), Caroline Schafer (California), and Sunny Villapando (Stanford).

THE CHAMP IS HERE: USC is the defending NCAA champion. The Trojans captured the program's third NCAA title and fourth national crown in 2021. USC won the final AVCA championship in 2015 and own the first two NCAA titles (2016, '17) in addition to last year's championship. The Women of Troy also own three Pac-12 championships (2016, '17, '19).
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Trojans extended their winning streak to 11 duals with a pair of 5-0 wins over Houston Baptist and CSU Bakersfield. USC collected its seventh and eighth 5-0 victories and its ninth sweep (3-0 vs. Florida Atlantic) and improved to 5-0 on home sand. The Trojans' top pair of Tina Graudina and Hailey Harward won their 11th consecutive match and delivered the clinching point in USC's first-ever meeting with HBU. Delaynie Maple and Julia Scoles continue to pace the Women of Troy with an unblemished 13-0 mark and picked up two more wins at the No. 2 position. At court four, Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse won their 43rd match together to move into seventh all-time among USC pairs.
 
CENTURY CITY: Tina Graudina became the program's 10th player to cross the 100-career wins plateau on March 16 during USC's victory over Florida International. She is now 103-9 in her four-year collegiate career and ranks eighth in USC history. Sammy Slater is right on Graudina's heels and has 99-career wins, which ties for 11th all-time with All-American Alexa Strange (2014-16). Four-time All-American Sara Hughes leads all players with 190-career victories. Kelly Claes (180), Nicolette Martin (141), and Allie Wheeler (130), comprise an elite group of four Women of Troy to have recorded over 125 wins. Jenna Belton finished with 124 wins and is followed by Abril Bustamante (121) and Terese Cannon (112). Jo Kremer, Joy Dennis, and Tina Graudina each have 103-career victories to tie for eighth all-time in program history.
 
IN THE LONG RUN: The Trojans' current 11-match winning streak is the team's sixth-longest streak of victories and just the eighth time that USC has put together a double-digit win streak. Last season, the Women of Troy had two winning streaks of 13 and 12 matches. The program record is 62 consecutive wins from March 11, 2016, to April 27, 2017.
 
COPPER TOPPER: USC holds a 25-1 all-time mark in the Copper State. The Trojans are 11-1 in Tucson with their only loss to UCLA on April 28, 2017, in the Pac-12 Championship semifinal. In other cities, USC is 7-0 in Tempe and 7-0 in Phoenix. Hailey Harward is the only Trojan to hail from the state of Arizona and prepped at Desert Vista HS in Phoenix.
 
HOPE LIVES HERE: Graduate Julia Scoles was chosen as one of two inaugural winners of the CalHOPE Courage Award on March 1. The award—presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), in association with The Associated Press (AP) and CalHOPE—recognizes inspiring student-athletes at California colleges and universities who have demonstrated courage in the face of adversity. Scoles was chosen based on her testimony of how her deep-seated faith and relationship with Christ has helped her find the courage to share about her journey through athletics and dealing with concussions and mental health issues that stem from injuries. For more info and resources, visit CalHOPE.org.