No. 2 USC Beach Volleyball Shoots Down to South Beach for Surf & Turf

LOS ANGELES – The No. 2-ranked USC beach volleyball team (10-0) leaves the comforts of home for the first time this season and heads to Miami Beach for spring break and the Surf & Turf Invitational.

THIS WEEK
South Beach • Miami Beach, Fla.
SURF & TURF INVITATIONAL

MATCH #11 • Friday, March 17 • 9:30 a.m. ET (6:30 a.m. PT)
No. 2 USC (10-0) vs. No. 1 TCU (12-0)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 5-0 (1.000)
STREAK: Won 5 • LAST 10: 5-0
LAST MEETING: W 4-1 (April 3, 2022 • Manhattan Beach)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoFrogs.com

MATCH #12 • Friday, March 17 • 4:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PT)
No. 2 USC (10-0) vs. No. 15 Florida Atlantic (7-5)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 4-0 (1.000)
STREAK: Won 4 • LAST 10: 4-0
LAST MEETING: W 3-0 (May 6, 2022 • Gulf Shores, Ala.)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: FAUSports.com

MATCH #13 • Saturday, March 18 • 11:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. PT)
No. 2 USC (10-0) vs. No. 14 Florida International (4-2)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 8-0 (1.000)
STREAK: Won 8 • LAST 10: 8-0
LAST MEETING: W 5-0 (April 3, 2022 • Manhattan Beach)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: FIUSports.com

MATCH #14 • Saturday, March 18 • 4:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PT)
No. 2 USC (10-0) vs. North Florida (7-4)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 1-0 (1.000)
STREAK: Won 1 • LAST 10: 1-0
LAST MEETING: W 4-1 (May 3, 2013 • Gulf Shores, Ala.)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UNFOspreys.com

BARE E-SAND-SHELLS • TL;DR

USC is the back-to-back defending NCAA champion and owns five national titles including the first NCAA crown in 2016 (AVCA '15, NCAA '17, '21, '22).
USC has also won four Pac-12 championships (2016, '17, '19, '22).
USC is 83-10 (.892) under fourth-year head coach Dain Blanton.
The Trojans are ranked No. 2 in the AVCA and CBVB.com polls. It is the 92nd time (of 92) USC is ranked by the AVCA; its 91st time in the top 5. The Trojans have also been ranked No. 1 a record 51 times.
USC's 46-dual win streak dates to March 5, 2022; the second longest in program history. USC won 62 in a row March 11, 2016-April 27, 2017.
The Trojans are 41-6 all-time against schools from the state of Florida. Only Florida State (5) and Stetson (1) have ever beaten USC on the sand.
USC is 16-1 all-time in the Sunshine State with an 8-0 mark in Miami. The Trojans have won 14 in a row in Florida since a loss to Florida State in 2012.
The Trojans have played in 26 1v2 matchups with a 15-11 all-time record. They are 8-8 when ranked No. 1, and 7-3 when ranked No. 2.
Twin seniors Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse rank third among pairs in school history with 70 total wins. Their 82 matches played together ranks fourth behind 85 played by All-Americans Sophie Bukovec and Alexa Strange (2015-16).
Juniors Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple were chosen as the Pac-12 Pair of the Week (March 6); the 27th time a USC pair has won the league's weekly award.
USC has celebrated 14 AVCA All-Americans (28 certificates). Two-time All-American Megan Kraft returns to the lineup for her junior season this spring.

LAST TIME OUT: The Trojans extended their active win streak to 46 duals with a 4-0 weekend on home sand as one of three hosts of the Battle for Los Angeles. USC defeated No. 16 Long Beach State, 4-1, and then got three 5-0 sweeps over Concordia, No. 7 Stanford, and Cal Poly to improve to 10-0 on the season. Twin seniors Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse went 4-0 together to reach 70 all-time victories and moved into third place in school history. At the No. 4 position, Olivia Bakos and Gabby Walker also went unbeaten without dropping a set.

THE CHAMP IS HERE: USC is the back-to-back defending NCAA champion ('21, '22). The Trojans captured the program's fourth NCAA title and fifth national crown in 2022. USC won the final AVCA championship in 2015 and owns the first two NCAA titles (2016, '17). The Women of Troy have also claimed four Pac-12 championships (2016, '17, '19, '22).

IN THE LONG RUN: The Trojans' active 46-dual win streak is the team's second-longest string of victories and is the eighth time that USC has put together a double-digit win streak. The program record is 62 consecutive wins spanning two seasons from March 11, 2016, to April 27, 2017.

SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE: USC holds a 16-1 all-time record in the state of Florida with an 8-0 record when it plays in Miami. The Trojans have won 14 straight duals in the Sunshine State since taking a loss to Florida State in Tallahassee in 2012. Against teams that are from the state of Florida, the Women of Troy are 41-6 all-time and have only ever lost to Florida State (5) and Stetson (1).

POLL POSITION: USC opened the 2023 season ranked fourth in the AVCA Coaches Top 20 preseason poll. The Women of Troy have been ranked in every AVCA poll for a total of 92 weeks. USC has also been ranked in the top five of the poll 91 times. The Trojans held that top-five distinction for 63 consecutive weeks from its inception until March 2, 2020. USC first seized the No. 1 ranking in both the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine 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 51 AVCA polls, the most all-time (Pepperdine and UCLA rank tied for second at 17 times each). The Trojans, Pepperdine, Hawai'i, UCLA, LSU, Florida State, and TCU are the only seven teams ever to hold the top spot in the poll. USC is 134-14 all-time when ranked No. 1.

SANDCASTLE: The Trojans are 82-11 (.882) at Merle Norman Stadium since it opened in 2013. The Trojans won 19 straight home matches between 2014 and 2016; and went 10-0 in 2015 and 8-0 in 2014 on MNS sand. Only five teams have ever come to Merle Norman Stadium and beaten the Women of Troy: Pepperdine (3), UCLA (3), Florida State (3), Long Beach State (1) and LSU (1). USC is currently on a 17-dual home win streak.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAND BOX: It has been a decade since Merle Norman Stadium opened on March 7, 2013. The stadium was the first of its kind as a dedicated collegiate beach volleyball facility. USC's first match in the stadium was a 4-1 victory over Loyola Marymount (March 10, 2013).

1-2 PUNCH: The Trojans have played in 26 1v2 matchups and are 15-11 all-time in such duals. USC was 1-1 in 2022 and 4-3 in 2021. In 2019, USC was part of 1v2 matches six times and went 3-3. USC was 2-1 in 2017 and went 4-1 in 2016 but didn't play any such matches in 2015. In three 1-vs-2 duals in 2014, USC went 1-2. Overall, in these duals, USC is 8-8 when ranked No. 1 and 7-3 when ranked No. 2.

POW-WOW: USC pairs have won the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Pair of the Week award a league-best 27 times since its inception in 2016. Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple captured weekly honors on March 7 after a weekend I which the top Trojan duo went 4-0 and dropped just one set to help USC collect four wins over ranked opponents including a big 3-2 victory over then No. 1-ranked UCLA. All-American Tina Graudina owns a league-record eight weekly awards having won with Abril Bustamante three times (2018-19), twice with Sammy Slater (2021), and once with Kraft (2021). As pairs go, All-Americans Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes are owners of a school-record five Pac-12 POW awards. Jenna Belton and Jo Kremer were the first-ever No. 5 pair to win the honor on March 21, 2017. USC's Nicolette Martin and Allie Wheeler have the great distinction of being the first-ever Pac-12 Pair of the Week honorees; chosen from the No. 3 position as juniors on March 8, 2016.

PAIR'S LAIR: Seven different USC pairs have recorded 50 or more victories together. Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse joined that elite group of duos in 2022 and now rank third all-time with a 70-12 record together. Atop that list is the two-time Pac-12 Champion duo of Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes, which won 147 matches together. Nicolette Martin and Allie Wheeler (91 wins) stands next in line and is followed by the Nourse twins. Sophie Bukovec-Alexa Strange (2015-16) won 66 together. In just two seasons, Abril Bustamante and Tina Graudina produced 64 wins. Jenna Belton and Jo Kremer had 54 wins; and Terese Cannon and Sammy Slater finished with exactly 50 wins.

JOINED AT THE HIP: Seniors Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse have played a lot of volleyball together, duh. At USC the twins have paired for 82 matches (70-12); ranked fourth all-time among Trojan partners. Only Sara Hughes-Kelly Claes (151 matches), Nicolette Martin-Allie Wheeler (106) and Sophie Bukovec-Alexa Strange (85) have played more together in the Cardinal & Gold.

Players Mentioned

Tina Graudina

Megan Kraft

Delaynie Maple

Audrey Nourse

Nicole Nourse

Sammy Slater

Gabby Walker