Saturday, March 31
Malibu, Calif.
10:10 AM
USC
vs
Saint Mary's (California) vs. USC
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
Photo by: John McGillen
No. 4 USC Faces Three Ranked Foes on Zuma Beach
March 28, 2018 | Women's Beach Volleyball, Features
The Women of Troy carry a four-match winning streak into the weekend
LOS ANGELES – The 4th-ranked USC beach volleyball team (15-6) returns to Zuma Beach for the second time this month and will face No. 19 Saint Mary's College (9-2), No. 16 Loyola Marymount (8-7), and top-ranked host Pepperdine (15-3) in the Pepperdine Invitational this weekend. The Trojans meet the Gaels at 10:10 a.m. PT, followed by a dual with the Lions at 12:30 p.m. and then a match-up with the Waves at 1:40 p.m. to conclude the day in Malibu, Calif.
The Trojans carry a four-match winning streak into the weekend and will face the Waves for the third time this spring. Pepperdine dealt two of USC's six losses early in the season--once at home, and once at Zuma. The Trojans are 4-0 all-time against Saint Mary's College and 17-0 against long-time rival Loyola Marymount.
Seniors Jenna Belton, Jo Kremer, and Terese Cannon lead USC's core group. Junior Abril Bustamante and sophomore Joy Dennis are the other returning starters from 2017. Belton and Kremer lead all Trojan pairs with 17 wins. Bustamante and freshman Tina Graudina have 13 victories; Cannon and freshman Sammy Slater have 12; and Dennis has teamed with freshman Haley Hallgren for nine wins.
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2018 PEPPERDINE INVITATIONAL
Zuma Beach • Malibu, Calif.
MATCH #22 • Saturday, March 31 • 10:10 a.m. PT
No. 4 USC (15-6) vs. No. 19 Saint Mary's College (9-2)
Series History: USC leads, 4-0 (1.000) • Streak: Won 4
Last Meeting: W, 4-1 (April 8, 2017 • Manhattan Beach)
Opponent Web: SMCGaels.com
MATCH #23 • Saturday, March 31 • 12:30 p.m. PT
No. 4 USC (15-6) vs. No. 16 Loyola Marymount (8-7)
Series History: USC leads, 17-0 (1.000) • Streak: Won 17
Last Meeting: W, 4-1 (April 8, 2017 • Manhattan Beach)
Opponent Web: LMULions.com
MATCH #24 • Saturday, March 31 • 1:40 p.m. PT
No. 4 USC (15-6) at No. 1 Pepperdine (15-3)
Series History: Tied 10-10 (.500) • Streak: Lost 2
Last Meeting: W, 3-2 (March 3, 2018 • Malibu, Calif.)
Opponent Web: PepperdineWaves.com
BARE E-SAND-SHELLS
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SCOUTING REPORT: No. 19 Saint Mary's College (9-2) is on a three-match winning streak and suffered its only two losses to Pac-12 foes Cal and Stanford. The Gaels are in Southern California for seven duals this week. The Trojans are 4-0 all-time against SMC and claimed a 4-1 win over the Gaels in Manhattan Beach last spring. The only Gael point in the dual was scored at the top court where Lindsey Knudsen and Payton Rund ended a 103-match winning streak held by Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes. This season, Rund and Morgan Hughes have teamed to lead the Gaels with 10 wins. No. 16 Loyola Marymount (8-7) owes all seven of its losses to ranked opponents including a narrow 3-2 defeat to No. 6 Cal Poly last week. Sara Kovac and Jessie Prichard lead the Lions with nine wins on the season. USC has defeated LMU in each of the 17 times the two teams have previously met. No. 1 Pepperdine (15-3) had a 13-match winning streak snapped this week in a 4-1 loss to UCLA. Two of the Waves' losses have been to the Bruins. The other was to Cal Poly at the beginning of the season. Madalyn Roh and Brook Bauer occupy the top court and have 11 wins there. USC and Pepperdine are 10-10 in 20 all-time meetings. The Waves won earlier this season at Merle Norman Stadium and at Zuma Beach. The two teams also met in the 2017 NCAA championship dual where the Trojans claimed a 3-2 victory in Gulf Shores, Ala.
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ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS: On Saturday, April 23, 2016, USC defeated Hawai'i, 3-0, to make head coach Anna Collier the first collegiate beach volleyball coach to reach the 100 career victories mark. She is now 161-24 (.870) all-time. The next closest coach is Pepperdine's Nina Matthies who reached 100 in 2017.
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POW-WOW: USC pairs have won the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Pair of the Week award 13 times since its inception in 2016. Abril Bustamante and Terese Cannon claimed the first award of 2018 on Feb. 27. Bustamante was later named for the award with freshman Tina Graudina on March 27. In 2017, USC pairs claimed five of the eight awards. All-Americans Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes are owners of a record five Pac-12 POW awards. Seniors Jenna Belton and Jo Kremer became the first-ever No. 5 pair to win the honor on March 21, 2017.
POLL POSITION: USC opened the 2018 season ranked No. 1 in both the AVCA Coaches Top 20 and the DiG Magazine Top 20 media poll. The Women of Troy seized the top spot in both polls on March 23, 2015, following a victory over then No. 1-ranked Hawai'i on the road and held the ranking for the rest of 2015. USC has been ranked No. 1 in 24 AVCA polls, the most all-time. The Trojans, the Waves, and the Wahine are the only three teams ever to hold the top spot in the poll. USC is 96-7 all-time when ranked No. 1. The Trojans received their first-ever No. 1 ranking in 2014 and maintained the position for much of the season, before the they fell to eventual AVCA champion Pepperdine in the national semifinals. In 2013, USC started the season ranked third and finished in fourth.
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The Trojans carry a four-match winning streak into the weekend and will face the Waves for the third time this spring. Pepperdine dealt two of USC's six losses early in the season--once at home, and once at Zuma. The Trojans are 4-0 all-time against Saint Mary's College and 17-0 against long-time rival Loyola Marymount.
Seniors Jenna Belton, Jo Kremer, and Terese Cannon lead USC's core group. Junior Abril Bustamante and sophomore Joy Dennis are the other returning starters from 2017. Belton and Kremer lead all Trojan pairs with 17 wins. Bustamante and freshman Tina Graudina have 13 victories; Cannon and freshman Sammy Slater have 12; and Dennis has teamed with freshman Haley Hallgren for nine wins.
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2018 PEPPERDINE INVITATIONAL
Zuma Beach • Malibu, Calif.
MATCH #22 • Saturday, March 31 • 10:10 a.m. PT
No. 4 USC (15-6) vs. No. 19 Saint Mary's College (9-2)
Series History: USC leads, 4-0 (1.000) • Streak: Won 4
Last Meeting: W, 4-1 (April 8, 2017 • Manhattan Beach)
Opponent Web: SMCGaels.com
MATCH #23 • Saturday, March 31 • 12:30 p.m. PT
No. 4 USC (15-6) vs. No. 16 Loyola Marymount (8-7)
Series History: USC leads, 17-0 (1.000) • Streak: Won 17
Last Meeting: W, 4-1 (April 8, 2017 • Manhattan Beach)
Opponent Web: LMULions.com
MATCH #24 • Saturday, March 31 • 1:40 p.m. PT
No. 4 USC (15-6) at No. 1 Pepperdine (15-3)
Series History: Tied 10-10 (.500) • Streak: Lost 2
Last Meeting: W, 3-2 (March 3, 2018 • Malibu, Calif.)
Opponent Web: PepperdineWaves.com
BARE E-SAND-SHELLS
- USC is the three-time defending national champion and won the first-ever NCAA title in the sport in 2016 (AVCA, 2015). The Trojans are also the two-time defending Pac-12 Champions.
- 7th-year head coach Anna Collier is 161-24 (.870) and is the first and only collegiate head coach to reach 150 career victories.
- Seniors Jenna Belton/Jo Kremer lead USC with 17 overall wins.
- USC will play on Zuma Beach for the second time this month.
- Only six teams have ever beaten the Trojans in a dual: Pepperdine (10), Long Beach State (5), Florida State (3), Hawai'i (3), UCLA (2), and LSU (1).
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SCOUTING REPORT: No. 19 Saint Mary's College (9-2) is on a three-match winning streak and suffered its only two losses to Pac-12 foes Cal and Stanford. The Gaels are in Southern California for seven duals this week. The Trojans are 4-0 all-time against SMC and claimed a 4-1 win over the Gaels in Manhattan Beach last spring. The only Gael point in the dual was scored at the top court where Lindsey Knudsen and Payton Rund ended a 103-match winning streak held by Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes. This season, Rund and Morgan Hughes have teamed to lead the Gaels with 10 wins. No. 16 Loyola Marymount (8-7) owes all seven of its losses to ranked opponents including a narrow 3-2 defeat to No. 6 Cal Poly last week. Sara Kovac and Jessie Prichard lead the Lions with nine wins on the season. USC has defeated LMU in each of the 17 times the two teams have previously met. No. 1 Pepperdine (15-3) had a 13-match winning streak snapped this week in a 4-1 loss to UCLA. Two of the Waves' losses have been to the Bruins. The other was to Cal Poly at the beginning of the season. Madalyn Roh and Brook Bauer occupy the top court and have 11 wins there. USC and Pepperdine are 10-10 in 20 all-time meetings. The Waves won earlier this season at Merle Norman Stadium and at Zuma Beach. The two teams also met in the 2017 NCAA championship dual where the Trojans claimed a 3-2 victory in Gulf Shores, Ala.
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ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS: On Saturday, April 23, 2016, USC defeated Hawai'i, 3-0, to make head coach Anna Collier the first collegiate beach volleyball coach to reach the 100 career victories mark. She is now 161-24 (.870) all-time. The next closest coach is Pepperdine's Nina Matthies who reached 100 in 2017.
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POW-WOW: USC pairs have won the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Pair of the Week award 13 times since its inception in 2016. Abril Bustamante and Terese Cannon claimed the first award of 2018 on Feb. 27. Bustamante was later named for the award with freshman Tina Graudina on March 27. In 2017, USC pairs claimed five of the eight awards. All-Americans Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes are owners of a record five Pac-12 POW awards. Seniors Jenna Belton and Jo Kremer became the first-ever No. 5 pair to win the honor on March 21, 2017.
POLL POSITION: USC opened the 2018 season ranked No. 1 in both the AVCA Coaches Top 20 and the DiG Magazine Top 20 media poll. The Women of Troy seized the top spot in both polls on March 23, 2015, following a victory over then No. 1-ranked Hawai'i on the road and held the ranking for the rest of 2015. USC has been ranked No. 1 in 24 AVCA polls, the most all-time. The Trojans, the Waves, and the Wahine are the only three teams ever to hold the top spot in the poll. USC is 96-7 all-time when ranked No. 1. The Trojans received their first-ever No. 1 ranking in 2014 and maintained the position for much of the season, before the they fell to eventual AVCA champion Pepperdine in the national semifinals. In 2013, USC started the season ranked third and finished in fourth.
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