USC Athletics

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The All-American USC beach volleyball pair of senior Abril Bustamante (Redondo Beach, Calif.) and sophomore Tina Graudina (Jurmala, Latvia) was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)/CollegeBeachVB.com National Pair of the Week, the AVCA announced on Tuesday, March 12.
 
The same pairing was chosen on March 13, 2018. It is the program's second all-time national weekly award. Bustamante and Graudina were named Pac-12 Pair of the Week last week (March 5).
 
The Trojan duo went 6-0 this week to remain one of three undefeated pairs in the nation (11-0). Bustamante and Graudina dropped just one set through six matches and helped lead the Women of Troy to wins over No. 4 Florida State twice, No. 6 LSU, No. 9 Florida International, No. 15 Stetson, and No. 19 TCU.
 
In their only three-set match, Bustamante-Graudina took a 21-16, 17-21, 15-9 win over Brooke Kuhlman and Payton Rund of Florida State to start the week. They went straight sets for wins in the other five. Against Stetson's top duo of Sunniva Helland-Hansen and Carly Perales, the Trojan tandem turned in a 21-12, 21-15 finish.
 
USC's top pair made short work of the No. 1 duo from Florida International, Ali Denney and Abbie Hughes, for a 21-12, 21-12 victory at the East Meets West Invitational. They also got a 21-17, 21-11 win over TCU's Jaelyn Greene and Victoria McDonald. To conclude the tourney in Manhattan Beach, Bustamante-Graudina defeated LSU's Claire Coppola and Kristen Nuss, 21-14, 21-14; and Florida State's Kuhlman and Rund a second time, 21-12, 21-15; this time to clinch the dual for the Trojans.
 
No. 2-ranked USC (10-1) is on the East Coast to take on No. 10 South Carolina (5-5) and No. 18 Georgia State (8-4) in Atlanta on Tuesday (March 12) and then heads to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for the FIU Invitational where it will face No. 16 Florida Atlantic (6-2) and have a rematch with No. 8 Florida International (5-4) on Friday (March 15).
 
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.