University Southern California Trojans
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/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
USC Beach Signs Kraft, Maple, Bakos, and Cummings
December 06, 2019 | Women's Beach Volleyball, Features
First-year head coach Dain Blanton inks his first group of players for the 2020-21 season
LOS ANGELES – The three-time national champion USC beach volleyball program has signed four student-athletes to national letters of intent, head coach Dain Blanton announced on Friday, Dec. 6.
The Trojans will add Olivia Bakos (Mira Costa HS/Manhattan Beach, Calif.), Caitlin Cummings (Lick-Wilmerding HS/Pacifica, Calif.), Megan Kraft (Torrey Pines HS/San Diego, Calif.), and Delayne Maple (Torrey Pines HS/Temecula, Calif.) to the freshman class for the 2020-21 academic year.
"This recruiting class exemplifies the Trojan spirit," said Blanton. "They are each tough competitors, who have won at every level and are hungry for more. We are very excited about the potential of these student-athletes not only in their collegiate career but beyond!"
Kraft and Maple are coming off a record-setting summer where they became the youngest pair to emerge from the AVP qualifier and played in the Huntington Beach Open. The duo finished 13th and then later set another astonishing mark as the youngest pair to advance as far as fifth place at an AVP event at the Hermosa Open. Kraft herself was 16 at the time and is on record as the youngest player to reach those plateaus. Kraft joined with Maple to win the Southern California Open, which earned the wild card berth into the Hermosa main draw. The two have two first-place finishes and several top-three finishes in different open events.
Kraft is a four-year member of the USAV Beach High Performance A1 team and took gold at the 2018 U17 championships with Maple. She finished third with Bakos at the 2017 U17 championships. She and Maple won 2019 BVCA and USAV titles. Kraft has a AAA CBVA rating with multiple top-three finishes at CBVA open events. Kraft trains with Wave Beach Volleyball Club and is a four-year indoor volleyball letterwinner at Torrey Pines with two San Diego CIF Open Division championships. Maple is also a member of Wave Beach Volleyball Club but played three years of indoor volleyball at Great Oak HS in Temecula, Calif., where she was an all-league player. Maple was a 2016 BVCA U14 national champion.
Bakos owns three CBVA California Cup titles and is part of the USAV High Performance A1 pipeline where she helped her team to the 2019 gold medal. She has also won two championships at the AAU Junior Olympics. At Mira Costa, Bakos helped the Mustangs win three CIF titles and three state championships as a three-year varsity starter. Bakos has also played in five AVP events and has a career-high finish of 25th with partner Peri Brennan. Bakos plays for the Elite Beach Volleyball Club, which has had several alumnae play for the Women of Troy.
Cummings has qualified for the California Cup every year since 2016 and finished in third place in 2018 in the 18s division. Cummings earned fifth-place finishes at the 2017 BVCA national championships and at the 2017 and 2018 USA High Performance national championships. She earned her AA rating in 2017 and was 2018's top-ranked player in the U16 USA point rankings. In 2018, Cummings took gold at the USA High Performance Zonal Tournament and claimed bronze medals at the 2018 AAU Best of the Beach. Cummings plays for the Santa Cruz Beach Volleyball club.
Indoors, Kraft and Maple helped Torrey Pines HS to the 2019 Avocado League title and the California state championship with a 39-2 overall record. MaxPreps and Volleyball Magazine declared the Falcons their high school national champions in late November.
The Women of Troy begin a new era in 2019-20 under first-year head coach Dain Blanton. The Olympic gold-medalist took the reins in late July following the retirement of eight-year head coach Anna Collier. Blanton and assistant coach Gustavo Rocha will lead the Trojans into the program's ninth season in a quest for a fourth Pac-12 title and fourth national championship.
A three-time national champion, USC finished as the NCAA runner-up in 2019 with a 32-6 overall record. The Trojans eclipsed the 30-win total for the third time and claimed the program's third Pac-12 Championship with a dramatic 3-2 win over crosstown rival UCLA. Collier was chosen as the AVCA National Coach of the Year and the Pac-12 Coach of the Year and became the first and only coach to cross the 200-career victory plateau. Abril Bustamante and Tina Graudina were named the Pac-12 Pair of the Year with Graudina the Player of the Year. The duo was chosen for AVCA All-America honors alongside Terese Cannon and Sammy Slater.
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, and Instagram.
The Trojans will add Olivia Bakos (Mira Costa HS/Manhattan Beach, Calif.), Caitlin Cummings (Lick-Wilmerding HS/Pacifica, Calif.), Megan Kraft (Torrey Pines HS/San Diego, Calif.), and Delayne Maple (Torrey Pines HS/Temecula, Calif.) to the freshman class for the 2020-21 academic year.
"This recruiting class exemplifies the Trojan spirit," said Blanton. "They are each tough competitors, who have won at every level and are hungry for more. We are very excited about the potential of these student-athletes not only in their collegiate career but beyond!"
Kraft and Maple are coming off a record-setting summer where they became the youngest pair to emerge from the AVP qualifier and played in the Huntington Beach Open. The duo finished 13th and then later set another astonishing mark as the youngest pair to advance as far as fifth place at an AVP event at the Hermosa Open. Kraft herself was 16 at the time and is on record as the youngest player to reach those plateaus. Kraft joined with Maple to win the Southern California Open, which earned the wild card berth into the Hermosa main draw. The two have two first-place finishes and several top-three finishes in different open events.
Kraft is a four-year member of the USAV Beach High Performance A1 team and took gold at the 2018 U17 championships with Maple. She finished third with Bakos at the 2017 U17 championships. She and Maple won 2019 BVCA and USAV titles. Kraft has a AAA CBVA rating with multiple top-three finishes at CBVA open events. Kraft trains with Wave Beach Volleyball Club and is a four-year indoor volleyball letterwinner at Torrey Pines with two San Diego CIF Open Division championships. Maple is also a member of Wave Beach Volleyball Club but played three years of indoor volleyball at Great Oak HS in Temecula, Calif., where she was an all-league player. Maple was a 2016 BVCA U14 national champion.
Bakos owns three CBVA California Cup titles and is part of the USAV High Performance A1 pipeline where she helped her team to the 2019 gold medal. She has also won two championships at the AAU Junior Olympics. At Mira Costa, Bakos helped the Mustangs win three CIF titles and three state championships as a three-year varsity starter. Bakos has also played in five AVP events and has a career-high finish of 25th with partner Peri Brennan. Bakos plays for the Elite Beach Volleyball Club, which has had several alumnae play for the Women of Troy.
Cummings has qualified for the California Cup every year since 2016 and finished in third place in 2018 in the 18s division. Cummings earned fifth-place finishes at the 2017 BVCA national championships and at the 2017 and 2018 USA High Performance national championships. She earned her AA rating in 2017 and was 2018's top-ranked player in the U16 USA point rankings. In 2018, Cummings took gold at the USA High Performance Zonal Tournament and claimed bronze medals at the 2018 AAU Best of the Beach. Cummings plays for the Santa Cruz Beach Volleyball club.
Indoors, Kraft and Maple helped Torrey Pines HS to the 2019 Avocado League title and the California state championship with a 39-2 overall record. MaxPreps and Volleyball Magazine declared the Falcons their high school national champions in late November.
The Women of Troy begin a new era in 2019-20 under first-year head coach Dain Blanton. The Olympic gold-medalist took the reins in late July following the retirement of eight-year head coach Anna Collier. Blanton and assistant coach Gustavo Rocha will lead the Trojans into the program's ninth season in a quest for a fourth Pac-12 title and fourth national championship.
A three-time national champion, USC finished as the NCAA runner-up in 2019 with a 32-6 overall record. The Trojans eclipsed the 30-win total for the third time and claimed the program's third Pac-12 Championship with a dramatic 3-2 win over crosstown rival UCLA. Collier was chosen as the AVCA National Coach of the Year and the Pac-12 Coach of the Year and became the first and only coach to cross the 200-career victory plateau. Abril Bustamante and Tina Graudina were named the Pac-12 Pair of the Year with Graudina the Player of the Year. The duo was chosen for AVCA All-America honors alongside Terese Cannon and Sammy Slater.
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, and Instagram.
Monday, May 04
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