Four-Time Defending NCAA Champ USC Beach Volleyball Enters 9th National Tourney

LOS ANGELES – The four-time defending NCAA champion USC beach volleyball team (26-10) was tabbed the fifth seed in the national championship and will face Atlantic Sun champion North Florida (25-10) in the opening round on Friday (May 2), the NCAA's selection committee announced on Sunday, April 27.

The Trojans and the Ospreys will meet at 9 a.m. CT (7 a.m. PT) on Friday, May 2, in the round of 16. The dual will be shown live on ESPN2. Tickets are available at NCAA.com and through EventBrite.com.

USC and North Florida met just weeks ago (April 5) in the Best in the West event in Laguna Beach, Calif. The Trojans defeated the Ospreys, 5-0, to move to 4-0 all-time in head-to-head meetings. USC also faced UNF to open the NCAA tournament in 2024 and took out the Ospreys, 3-0. This meeting will be USC's third with UNF in Gulf Shores. The teams also faced each other in the AVCA championship in 2013 when USC took a 4-1 win to advance in its first-ever postseason tournament appearance.

USC makes its ninth appearance in the NCAA championship and is one of only three teams to play in every tournament (Florida State, UCLA). The Women of Troy won their first national title in 2015 when USC went 28-0 to capture the final AVCA collegiate beach championship. The Trojans then won the first NCAA title in 2016 and went back-to-back as winners of the 2017 championship. UCLA won back-to-back championships in 2018-19 and the 2020 championship was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When it returned, USC won its third NCAA title in 2021 and has won each of the last four championships to total six NCAA crowns and seven national titles.

Including duals played as part of the AVCA championships (2013-15), USC is 38-8 all-time on Gulf Shores sand. The Trojans are 31-4 in duals at the NCAA championship. USC lost twice each in 2018 and 2019 when the tournament was a double-elimination bracket. Its second loss in 2019 was to the eventual champion UCLA in the championship dual. Under sixth-year head coach Dain Blanton, USC is 17-0 in the NCAA tourney. Last year, the Trojans went 4-0 and were 12-0 in individual matches to capture their fourth straight national championship.

The Trojans finished as the runner-up to Stanford in the inaugural MPSF championship last week. USC collected wins over No. 19 Washington, No. 9 California, and No. 1 UCLA in the process but was defeated by the Cardinal, 3-2, in the championship dual.

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 X @USCBeach.

University Southern California Trojans

Four-Time Defending NCAA Champ USC Beach Volleyball Enters 9th National Tourney

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