Bustamante, Cannon, Graudina, and Slater Earn AVCA All-America Notice

LEXINGTON, Ky. – USC's top pair of senior Abril Bustamante (Redondo Beach, Calif.) and sophomore Tina Graudina (Jurmala, Latvia) and its No. 2 pair of senior Terese Cannon (Pittsford, N.Y.) and sophomore Sammy Slater (Ventura, Calif.) were named American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Beach Volleyball All-Americans on Wednesday, May 8.

The four selections mark the third time in program history that the Trojans have had four All-Americans named by the AVCA (2015, 2017). It gives USC 20 all-time All-America certificates, which is now tied with the 20 held by Pepperdine players. Those 20 awards have been won by 11 different Women of Troy, which is second only to Pepperdine's 13 All-America individuals.

Bustamante and Graudina are repeat choices from 2018 and up USC's total of multi-year All-Americans to six players, which is second only to Pepperdine's seven. Cannon and Slater are each first-time All-America award winners.

Bustamante-Graudina was named the 2019 Pac-12 Pair of the Year last week and were each placed on the Pac-12 All-Conference first team. Graudina was chosen as the Pac-12 Player of the Year to follow up her Pac-12 Freshman of the Year campaign. The duo finished with a 33-2 overall record and ended the season on a 15-match winning streak. Their three wins in the NCAA championship earned them the No. 1 position's selection to the NCAA All-Tournament Team.

In two years, Bustamante and Graudina went 64-4 together. Their 64 wins ranks fourth all-time among Trojan tandems and their .941 winning percentage is second-highest all-time at USC among pairs with at least 25 wins together. They were chosen for Pac-12 Pair of the Week twice in 2019 (March 5, March 26) and were named to the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team. Individually, Bustamante's 121-career victories is the sixth most by a Trojan.

Cannon and Slater were each chosen to the Pac-12's All-Conference first team for the season time in their careers; and were named Pac-12 Pair of the Week on April 16. They were also chosen to the Pac-12's All-Tournament Team after their win clinched the conference title for the Trojans. The tandem compiled a 24-9 record in 2019 and will finish with an all-time record of 50-16. Their 50 wins as a pair rank sixth all-time among all USC pairs and Cannon's individual-career mark of 112 wins is seventh most all-time at USC. Both she and Bustamante are in a group of just eight Trojans ever to rack up over 100-career victories.

The Trojans secured the program's third Pac-12 title this spring and finished the season as the NCAA runner-up. Eighth-year head coach Anna Collier became the first collegiate beach coach to reach and cross the 200-career win plateau (205-38); and was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the first time in her career. USC compiled a 32-6 overall record and broke the 30-win mark for the third time in team history (2016, 2017).

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.

Players Mentioned

Abril Bustamante

Terese Cannon

Tina Graudina

Sammy Slater