USC Beach Begins NCAA Run With Hatter Rematch

LOS ANGELES – The USC beach volleyball team (28-4) rides a 12-dual winning streak into its fourth straight berth in the NCAA beach volleyball championship this week. The Women of Troy won the program's third Pac-12 title last week, moved up one spot in the polls, and were awarded the top seed in the eight-team national tourney.

2019 NCAA BEACH VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Gulf Shores Public Beach • Gulf Shores, Ala.

MATCH #33 • Friday, May 3 • 9 a.m. CT (7 a.m. PT)
[1] No. 1 USC (28-4) vs. [8] No. 8 Stetson (29-8)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 6-0 (1.000) • STREAK: Won 6
LAST MEETING: W 4-1 (March 7, 2019 • MNS)
TV: ESPNU (ESPN3 for individual court coverage)
WEBSITE: NCAA.com/sports/beach-volleyball

BARE E-SAND-SHELLS

USC owns three beach volleyball national championships including the first-ever NCAA title in 2016 (AVCA, 2015).
The Trojans have won three Pac-12 crowns (2016, '17, '19).
USC is 17-6 all-time on Gulf Shores sand and once won 12 in a row during its three-national championship run (2015-17).
8th-year head coach Anna Collier is 201-36 (.889) and is the first and only collegiate head coach to reach 200 career victories.
AVCA All-Americans Abril Bustamante (Sr.) and Tina Graudina (So.) top the Trojans' lineup. The duo is 61-4 all-time together; the fourth most successful pair in program history for total victories.
Individually, Bustamante is 118-24 and Sr. Terese Cannon is 110-30 all-time. They rank sixth and seventh all-time among USC individuals for career wins.

USC draws a rematch with eighth-ranked and No. 8-seed Stetson (29-8) to open its run in Gulf Shores. The Trojans are 6-0 against the Hatters and will meet Stetson in the postseason for the third time. USC previously defeated the Hatters, 4-1, in 2014 and 5-0 in 2015 during the AVCA's national tournament. The Trojans also took down Stetson, 4-1, in a home meeting earlier this spring.

The Trojans' 12-dual winning streak is the longest this season. During it, Anna Collier became the first and only head coach to reach 200-career wins. USC is 17-6 all-time in Gulf Shores and had a stretch of 12 straight wins there from 2015-17 when it won each of its three national titles. The Trojans held the nation's No. 2 ranking all season, but moved to No. 1 following their win in the Pac-12 championship. It is the 25th time that USC is ranked No. 1 in the AVCA Coaches Poll.

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.

LAST TIME OUT: The Women of Troy claimed the program's third Pac-12 championship on back-to-back 3-2 victories over No. 1-ranked and top-seeded UCLA. The Trojans defeated Washington and Arizona State, 3-0, in first- and second-round duals before their head-to-heads with the Bruins. Each of USC's top pairs—Abril Bustamante and Tina Graudina; and Terese Cannon and Sammy Slater--was named to the all-tournament team. Cannon-Slater provided USC's clinching point in the championship dual. The Trojans' first win over UCLA in the winner's bracket final was the 200th-career victory for head coach Anna Collier.

SCOUTING REPORT: No. 8-ranked Stetson (29-8) received one of three berths awarded to teams from the East. It is the second NCAA bid for the Hatters, who were also in the tournament in 2016 as the eighth seed. Stetson also earned berths into the AVCA championship in 2014 and 2015 and will make its fourth trip to Gulf Shores. The Hatters are on a school-record 13-match winning streak and captured the program's third-consecutive Atlantic Sun championship. Stetson's No. 2 pair of Sammee Thomas and Darby Dunn is 30-7 and was named ASUN Pair of the Year and ASUN Pair of the Tournament. The No. 1 pair of Sunniva Helland-Hansen and Carly Perales are 27-10.

USC POSTSEASON HISTORY: The Trojans have played in the national collegiate tournament in all but one year since the program began (2012). USC made back-to-back appearances in the AVCA championship in 2013 and 2014 but went 2-2 each year as Pepperdine and Long Beach State claimed national titles. The Women of Troy broke through and secured their first national crown in 2015. USC's AVCA title was accompanied by a 28-0 undefeated season. In 2016, the NCAA began sponsoring beach volleyball and awarded its first championship in the sport. USC went 34-2 that season and captured the first-ever NCAA title with back-to-back wins over top-seeded Florida State. The Trojans won 32 in a row to open 2017 and finished the year with six more wins in a row including back-to-back over Pepperdine to claim their second consecutive NCAA title; and third straight national championship. USC had a 12-dual winning streak snapped in 2018 and went 2-2 at the national tournament.

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS: On Friday, April 26, 2019, USC defeated UCLA, 3-2, in the Pac-12 Championship to make head coach Anna Collier the first collegiate beach volleyball coach to reach the 200 career victories mark. She is now 201-36 (.889) all-time. She was also the first to reach 100 and 150 wins. Previously, 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. Now, the next nearest active coach to Collier is UCLA's Stein Metzger who started the season at 110-38 and is now 141-41 (.775).

CENTURY CITY: Seniors Abril Bustamante and Terese Cannon reached 100 career wins this season. They are the seventh and eighth players to reach that career plateau with the Trojans. Bustamante now ranks sixth with 118 wins (24 losses) and Cannon ranks seventh with 110 wins (30 losses) all-time. The other six Trojans among the top eight are school-record holder Sara Hughes (190); Kelly Claes (180), Nicolette Martin (141), Allie Wheeler (130), Jenna Belton (124), and Jo Kremer (103).

PAIR'S LAIR: USC's pair of Abril Bustamante and Tina Graudina has won 61 matches (61-4) and are fourth all-time among Trojan pairs. In school history, they rank behind only Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes who won 147 matches; Nicolette Martin and Allie Wheeler (91 wins); and Sophie Bukovec and Alexa Strange (66 wins). Terese Cannon and Sammy Slater are just a step behind Bustamante-Graudina. They rank sixth among all-time USC pairs with 48 wins (48-15).

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Players Mentioned

Jenna Belton

Abril Bustamante

Terese Cannon

Tina Graudina

Jo Kremer

Sammy Slater