No. 2 USC Beach Hosts No. 4 Seminoles and No. 15 Hatters

LOS ANGELES – The No. 2-ranked USC beach volleyball team (4-1) carries a three-match winning streak into week two of the 2019 season and will face six ranked opponents over the course of four days. The Women of Troy host No. 4 Florida State (8-1) and No. 15 Stetson (3-1) at Merle Norman Stadium on Thursday (March 7) and then head to Manhattan Beach for the East Meets West Invitational hosted by UCLA to take on No. 9 Florida International (4-0) and No. 19 TCU (5-3) on Saturday, March 9; and No. 6 Louisiana State (6-2) and Florida State on Sunday, March 10.

MATCH #6 • Thursday, March 7 • 10 a.m. PT
No. 2 USC (4-1) vs. No. 4 Florida State (8-1)
Merle Norman Stadium • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 8-4 (.667) • STREAK: Lost 1
LAST MEETNG: L, 3-1 (May 4, 2018 • Gulf Shores, Ala.)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: Seminoles.com

MATCH #7 • Thursday, March 7 • 2 p.m. PT
No. 2 USC (4-1) vs. No. 15 Stetson (3-1)
Merle Norman Stadium • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 5-0 (1.000) • STREAK: Won 5
LAST MEETNG: W, 4-1 (Mar. 26, 2017 • Columbia, S.C.)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoHatters.com

2019 EAST MEETS WEST INVITATIONAL
Manhattan Beach Pier • Manhattan Beach, Calif.

MATCH #8 • Saturday, March 9 • 8:30 a.m. PT
No. 2 USC (4-1) vs. No. 9 Florida International (4-0)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 4-0 (1.000) • STREAK: Won 4

MATCH #9 • Saturday, March 9 • 1:30 p.m. PT
No. 2 USC (4-1) vs. No. 19 TCU (5-3)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 3-0 (1.000) • STREAK: Won 3

MATCH #10 • Sunday, March 10 • 10 a.m. PT
No. 2 USC (4-1) vs. No. 6 Louisiana State (6-2)
SERIES HISTORY: Tied, 1-1 (.500) • STREAK: Lost 1

MATCH #11 • Sunday, March 10 • 3 p.m. PT
No. 2 USC (4-1) vs. No. 4 Florida State (8-1)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 8-4 (.667) • STREAK: Lost 1

BARE E-SAND-SHELLS

USC owns three beach volleyball national championships including the first-ever NCAA title in 2016 (AVCA, 2015).
The Trojans are 47-8 all-time in home matches and are 45-8 in matches played at Merle Norman Stadium.
8th-year head coach Anna Collier is 177-33 (.889) and is the first and only collegiate head coach to reach 150 career victories.
Only four teams have beaten USC on Merle Norman sand and account for all eight losses: Pepperdine (3), Florida State (2), UCLA (2), Long Beach State (1).
All-Americans Abril Bustamante (Sr.) and Tina Graudina (So.) return at the top of the Trojans' lineup. The duo is 36-2 all-time together.
Bustamante-Graudina was named Pac-12 Pair of the Week (March 5).
Each of USC's top three pairs are made up of a senior and a sophomore.

SCOUTING REPORT: No. 4 Florida State (8-1) enters the week on an eight-match winning streak after dropping a 3-2 decision to LSU in its season opener. All of the Seminoles' results since have been 5-0 or 4-1 victories including a revenge match against the Tigers. At the top court, FSU seniors Brooke Kuhlman and Payton Rund are 6-2 as a pair. No. 15 Stetson (3-1) owns 5-0 victories over Georgia State, Saint Leo, and Eckerd, but dropped a 5-0 decision to FIU in its first weekend of competition. At the Hatters' No. 1 court, the junior tandem of Sunniva Helland-Hansen and Carly Perales are 3-1 overall. No. 9 Florida International (4-0) went undefeated at the same tourney with Stetson. All of FIU's matches have been clean sweep victories. For the Panthers, senior Margherita Bianchin and junior Federica Frasca are 4-0. No. 19 TCU (5-3) re-entered the AVCA poll this week after a 3-1 weekend with wins over Georgia State, Tulane, and Missouri State. The Horned Frogs are 7-1 at the second position, but its top duo of senior Jaelyn Greene and freshman Victoria McDonald are 2-5 at No. 1. No. 6 Louisiana State (6-2) earned a win over the Trojans at last year's East Meets West tournament. The Tigers earned three 3-2 wins top-10 opponents in the first week. They beat No. 6 Cal Poly, No. 3 Florida State, and No. 9 South Carolina. LSU also defeated No. 18 Florida Atlantic, but dropped a 4-1 decision to FSU and a 3-2 final to South Carolina in rematches.

LAST TIME OUT: The Women of Troy opened the 2019 campaign with a split on home sand. USC earned a 4-1 win over No. 13 Loyola Marymount but dropped a tough 3-2 result to crosstown rival UCLA. The victory over the Lions was a school-record 19th straight but the loss to the Bruins was a series record fifth straight. Unfazed, the Trojans headed into the desert and earned a trio of 5-0 victories over No. 14 Arizona, No. 12 Stanford, and Oregon at the Pac-12 South Invitational in Tucson, Ariz. At the top court, Abril Bustamante and Tina Graudina collected their 36th all-time victory as a pair and have won each of their five matches in straight sets. Terese Cannon and Sammy Slater reached the 30-win plateau and are 30-8 all-time with their four wins this week.

TRACK THE TROJANS: Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCBeach on Twitter for score updates during home matches and select road matches. The Trojans are also active on Instagram and Facebook. Search @USCBeach and follow us today!

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS: On Saturday, April 23, 2016, USC defeated Hawai'i, 3-0, to make head coach Anna Collier the first collegiate beach volleyball coach to reach the 100 career victories mark. She is now 177-33 (.889) all-time. The next closest coach was Pepperdine's Nina Matthies who reached 100 in 2017 and retired from coaching following the 2018 season with 137 career victories. The next nearest active coach to Collier is UCLA's Stein Metzger who is 119-38 (.869).

POW-WOW: USC pairs have won the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Pair of the Week award 14 times since its inception in 2016. Abril Bustamante and Tina Graudina secured the program's first award of 2019 on March 5. In 2018, Bustamante paired with Terese Cannon for one of two USC awards. She also won with a then-freshman Graudina. In 2017, USC pairs claimed five of the eight awards. All-Americans Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes are owners of a record five Pac-12 POW awards. Jenna Belton and Jo Kremer became the first-ever No. 5 pair to win the honor on March 21, 2017. USC's Nicolette Martin and Allie Wheeler have the great distinction of being the first-ever Pac-12 Pair of the Week honorees. The duo was chosen from the No. 3 position on March 8, 2016, when they were juniors.

SAND CASTLE: The Women of Troy are 45-8 at Merle Norman Stadium since it opened in 2013. The Trojans won 19 straight home matches between 2014 and 2016; and went 10-0 in 2015 and 8-0 in 2014 on MNS sand. USC's later 16-match winning streak was snapped on Feb. 28, 2018, when UCLA and Pepperdine claimed back-to-back 3-2 wins over the Trojans. Only four teams have ever come to Merle Norman Stadium and beaten the Women of Troy: Pepperdine (3), Florida State (2), UCLA (2), and Long Beach State (1).

POLL POSITION: USC opened the 2019 season ranked No. 2 in both the AVCA Coaches Top 20 and the DiG Magazine Top 20 media poll. The Trojans have been ranked in the AVCA's top 5 (and appeared in every poll) for 49 weeks. The Women of Troy seized the top spot in both polls on March 23, 2015, following a victory over then No. 1-ranked Hawai'i on the road and held the ranking for the rest of 2015. USC has been ranked No. 1 in 24 AVCA polls, the most all-time. The Trojans, the Waves, the Wahine, and UCLA are the only four teams ever to hold the top spot in the poll. USC is 96-7 all-time when ranked No. 1. The Trojans received their first-ever No. 1 ranking in 2014 and maintained the position for much of the season, before the they fell to eventual AVCA champion Pepperdine in the national semifinals. In 2013, USC started the season ranked third and finished in fourth.

USC HOSTS 2019 PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP: The sand at Merle Norman Stadium will play host to the 2019 Pac-12 Championship from April 25-27. The Trojans also hosted the inaugural league tournament at the stadium in 2016 and won the first of its back-to-back conference crowns. Arizona hosted the 2017 tournament and Stanford played host to the tourney in 2018. For more information on the championship, please visit Pac-12.com/beach-volleyball.

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Players Mentioned

Jenna Belton

Abril Bustamante

Terese Cannon

Tina Graudina

Jo Kremer

Sammy Slater