USC Athletics

SAN FRANCISCO – The USC beach volleyball pair of senior Abril Bustamante (Redondo Beach, Calif.) and sophomore Tina Graudina (Jurmala, Latvia) was chosen as the Pac-12 Pair of the Week for the week of March 18-24, the conference announced on Tuesday, March 26. It is the duo's third award all-time and the third for a Trojan pair this spring.
 
The honor marks the 16th time that a Trojan tandem has received the conference's Pair of the Week honor. Sophomore Haley Hallgren and senior Alexandra Poletto were named for the award for the first time in their careers on March 12.
 
While this award is Graudina's third-career selection as part of the Pair of the Week, it is Bustamante's fifth. As a freshman, she was chosen with Jenna Belton and as a junior, also won the award once while paired with senior Terese Cannon.
 
Bustamante-Graudina went undefeated and didn't drop a set at the ASU Invitational, where the pair delivered the clinching point in each of the Trojans' three dual victories. First, they dispatched of Arizona State's Katelyn Carballo and Ashley Wenz, 21-19, 21-18, to start the tournament. They then took down No. 5-ranked Pepperdine's team of Brook Bauer and Heidi Dyer, 22-20, 21-17. In the last of their three matches, the USC pair defeated Hawai'i's No. 1 pair of Emily Maglio and Amy Ozee, 21-16, 21-12.
 
Bustamante and Graudina improved to 17-1 on the season and extended their individual winning streak to six matches. They are 48-3 all-time as a duo and are now just two wins shy of becoming only the fifth pair in USC history to record 50 career victories.
 
The No. 2-ranked Trojans are on a six-dual winning streak and are 16-2 overall this spring. They will take on No. 5 Pepperdine (14-6) for the second time in eight days and face the Waves on Zuma State Beach in Malibu, Calif., on Saturday, March 30, at 10 a.m. PT.
 
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.

ALL-TIME USC PAC-12 BEACH VOLLEYBALL PAIRS OF THE WEEK
 
2016 (6)
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 (5)
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 (2)
Abril Bustamante and Terese Cannon – No. 1 (Feb. 27)
Abril Bustamante and Tina Graudina – No. 1 (Mar. 27)
 
2019 (3)
Abril Bustamante and Tina Graudina – No. 1 (Mar. 5)
Haley Hallgren and Alexandra Poletto – No. 3 (Mar. 12)
Abril Bustamante and Tina Graudina – No. 1 (Mar. 26)