Bustamante and Graudina Named Pac-12 and VolleyMob.com Pair of the Week

SAN FRANCISCO – The USC beach volleyball pair of junior Abril Bustamante (Redondo Beach, Calif.) and freshman Tina Graudina (Jurmala, Latvia) was named Pac-12 Pair of the Week for the week of March 19-25, the conference announced on Tuesday, March 27.

It is USC's second award of the 2018 season and marks the league-leading 13th time that a Trojan duo has received the conference's Pair of the Week honor. Bustamante won earlier this season partnered with senior Terese Cannon (Feb. 27) and also won the award in 2016 (Mar. 28) while partnered with current senior Jenna Belton at the No. 4 position. It is Graudina's first-such award.

Nationally, VolleyMob.com chose Bustamante and Graudina for its Pair of the Week honor as well. The duo was also chosen for the AVCA's National Pair of the Week award on March 13.

Bustamante and Graudina went 4-0 at the top court without dropping a set to help the Women of Troy go 4-0 in duals at the Pac-12 South Invitational. The duo took down Alexia Inman and Mima Mirkovic of No. 16-ranked California, 21-15, 21-12; Kwyn Johnson and Mia River of Arizona State, 21-16, 21-13; Natalie Anselmo and Olivia Macdonald of 11th-ranked Arizona, 21-9, 25-23; and Kathryn Plummer and Sunny Villapando of No. 14 Stanford, 21-18, 21-16.

The fourth-ranked Trojans (15-6) ride a four-match winning streak into this weekend's Pepperdine Invitational where they will face No. 19 Saint Mary's College (9-2) at 10:10 a.m. PT, No. 16 Loyola Marymount (8-7) at 12:30 p.m., and No. 1-ranked host Pepperdine (15-2) at 1:40 p.m., on Saturday, March 31, at Zuma Beach in Malibu, Calif.

For more information on the three-time national champion USC beach volleyball team and a complete schedule, please visit USCTrojans.com and follow @USCBeach on Facebook, Twitter, Periscope, Instagram, and Snapchat.

ALL-TIME USC PAC-12 BEACH VOLLEYBALL PAIRS OF THE WEEK

2016
Nicolette Martin and Allie Wheeler – No. 3 (Mar. 8)
Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes – No. 1 (Mar. 21)
Jenna Belton and Abril Bustamante – No. 4 (Mar. 28)
Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes – No. 1 (Apr. 11)
Sophie Bukovec and Alexa Strange – No. 2 (Apr. 18)
Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes – No. 1 (Apr. 25)

2017
Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes – No. 1 (Mar. 7)
Jenna Belton and Jo Kremer – No. 5 (Mar. 21)
Terese Cannon and Nicolette Martin – No. 3 (Mar. 28)
Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes – No. 1 (Apr. 4)
Sophie Bukovec and Allie Wheeler – No. 2 (Apr. 25)

2018
Abril Bustamante and Terese Cannon – No. 1 (Feb. 27)
Abril Bustamante and Tina Graudina – No. 1 (Mar. 27)

Players Mentioned

Jenna Belton

Sophie Bukovec

Abril Bustamante

Terese Cannon

Kelly Claes

Tina Graudina

Sara Hughes

Jo Kremer

Nicolette Martin

Allie Wheeler