No. 4 USC Beach Volleyball Bayou Bound for Death Volley Invitational

LOS ANGELES – No. 4 USC beach volleyball (15-4) heads to the Pelican State for the Death Volley Invitational hosted by 11th-ranked LSU (15-6) this week. The Women of Troy take on the Tigers and then meet No. 7 Florida State (18-3) on Friday (March 28). USC then faces No. 2 TCU (12-3) for the third time this season and then meets No. 8 Texas (16-5) for the first time ever on Saturday (March 29). The Trojans played in the same tourney a year ago and went 3-1 with their only loss to the host Tigers. It was USC's first visit to the state of Louisiana. The Trojans' top pair of Zoey Henson and Madison White ride a seven-match win streak into the weekend while their No. 2 duo of Kennedy Coakley and Ashley Pater come in with nine wins in a row. All matches at the Death Volley Invitational will be shown live for free on VBTV with full commentary on pairs playing in the No. 1 position.

THIS WEEK
DEATH VOLLEY INVITATIONAL

LSU Beach Volleyball Stadium • Baton Rouge, La.

TV/LIVE STREAM: VBTV

MATCH #20 • Friday, March 28 • 10:30 a.m. CT

No. 4 USC (15-4) at No. 11 LSU (15-6)

SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 6-3 (.667)

STREAK: Lost 1 • LAST 10: 6-3

LAST MEETING: L 2-3 (March 30, 2024 • Baton Rouge, La.)

MATCH #21 • Friday, March 28 • 2:15 p.m. CT

No. 4 USC (15-4) vs. No. 7 Florida State (18-3)

SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 21-5 (.808)

STREAK: Won 8 • LAST 10: 9-1

LAST MEETING: W 4-1 (March 30, 2024 • Baton Rouge, La.)

MATCH #22 • Saturday, March 29 • 9:15 a.m. CT

No. 4 USC (15-4) vs. No. 2 TCU (12-3)

SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 10-2 (.833)

STREAK: Lost 1 • LAST 10: 8-2

LAST MEETING: L 2-3 (March 18, 2025 • Riviera Beach, Fla.)

MATCH #23 • Saturday, March 29 • 2:15 p.m. CT

No. 4 USC (15-4) vs. No. 8 Texas (16-5)

SERIES HISTORY: First meeting

STREAK: N/A • LAST 10: N/A

FIRST MEETING: March 29, 2025 • Baton Rouge, La.

BARE E-SAND-SHELLS • TL;DR

USC has won the last four NCAA championships and owns seven national titles including the first NCAA crown awarded in 2016 (AVCA '15, NCAA '16, '17, '21, '22, '23, '24).
The Trojans own five Pac-12 titles (2016, '17, '19, '22, '24).
USC is 157-24 (.867) under sixth-year head coach Dain Blanton.
The Women of Troy are ranked No. 4 in the AVCA poll. It is the 118th time (of 118) USC is ranked; its 117th time among the top 5. The Trojans have also held the No. 1 spot a record 50 times.
USC visits the Pelican State for the second time. The Trojans are 3-1 in the state of Louisiana and suffered their only loss to LSU in the 2024 Death Volley Invitational.
So. Zoey Henson and Jr. Madison White are 14-3 at the No. 1 position and have won seven straight matches.
The Trojans' No. 2 pair of Fr. Kennedy Coakley and So. Ashley Pater have produced a 13-2 record together and have won nine straight matches.
Gr. Ella Larkin (74-21), Jr. Madison White (71-20), and Gr. Maya Gessner (59-29) lead the Trojans in career victories. All of White's wins are with USC.
Through 19 duals, USC has employed 14 different lineups with 25 different pairs.
USC has celebrated 15 AVCA All-Americans and 32 individual certificates.

LAST TIME OUT: The Women of Troy went cross-country for the FAU Beach Invitational on Pompano Beach sand and collected four wins with victories over Florida Gulf Coast, No. 15 Stetson, No. 13 Florida Atlantic, and No. 20 Georgia State. USC extended its win streak to six matches in the process, but was later defeated by No. 3 TCU, 3-2, in a neutral-site dual on Riviera Beach. The Trojans' top two pairs each went 5-0 on the trip. Zoey Henson and Madison White improved to 14-3 and extended their active win streak to seven matches while Kennedy Coakley and Ashley Pater moved to 12-3 and are on a nine-match win streak.

NEW DIGS: USC plays its first season as a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in 2025. The Trojans were members of the Pac-12 from 2016 through 2024 and won five conference titles (2016-17, '19, '22, 24) including the final crown awarded in 2024. With the dissolution of the league, USC moved to the MPSF and is joined by UCLA, California, Stanford, Oregon, Washington, and Grand Canyon. The first MPSF beach volleyball tournament will be played April 23-25 on Spiker Beach in Huntington Beach, Calif. The champion of the seven-team league will receive the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA championship.

TIGER TALES: There are several USC-LSU beach volleyball connections. The Tigers' head coach Russell Brock played for the Trojans' men's volleyball team in the early 1990s and collected 956 career digs—a then school-record that stood for more than 10 years. A different LSU player has joined the Trojans in each of the last three seasons. Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope helped USC capture the 2023 NCAA championship Grace Seits then came to Troy and helped the Trojans win the 2024 NCAA crown. Ella Larkin is now on the USC roster following three seasons on the sand at LSU and last fall on the hardwood for Kansas State.

SEMINOLE REUNION: So. Kaileigh Truslow will face her former team for the first time when the Trojans take on Florida State in Baton Rouge. Truslow played her freshman season in Tallahassee where she produced a 15-5 record in the garnet and gold and was named to the CCSA All-Freshman first team.

RE-CAL-CULATION: Graduate transfer Maya Gessner played three seasons at California (2021-23) and won 54 matches with the Golden Bears. She is the fourth former Bear to join the Trojans and follows Ainsley Radell (2024), Caroline Schafer (2022), and Mary Buckingham (2014). Maya and her former teammates will face off USC's second match at the MPSF Midseason Rumble on Friday (March 7) at noon PT.

A B1G DEAL: USC's home duals will be shown live on Big Ten Plus streams this spring. As part of a new agreement between the MPSF and the Big Ten Network, beach volleyball and men's volleyball contests at member schools will be carried on Big Ten Plus and are available inventory for BTN linear broadcasts. Check USCTrojans.com for links to live streams and broadcast information.

No. 4 USC Beach Volleyball Bayou Bound for Death Volley Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kennedy Coakley

Maya Gessner

Zoey Henson

Ella Larkin

Ashley Pater

Ainsley Radell

Grace Seits

Kaileigh Truslow

Madison White

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University Southern California Trojans

No. 4 USC Beach Volleyball Bayou Bound for Death Volley Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kennedy Coakley

Maya Gessner

Zoey Henson

Ella Larkin

Ashley Pater

Ainsley Radell

Grace Seits

Kaileigh Truslow

Madison White

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