USC Beach Volleyball Trojans Rack Up Pac-12 Accolades

SAN FRANCISCO – USC beach volleyball juniors Megan Kraft (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines HS) and Delaynie Maple (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines HS) were named the Pac-12 Pair of the Year, the Pac-12 Conference announced on Thursday, May 4.

Kraft was also chosen as the Pac-12's Player of the Year. Both Kraft and Maple are members of the Pac-12 All-Conference first team. Graduate Madison Shields (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge HS) and freshman Madison White (Scottsdale, Ariz./ASU Preparatory Academy) were named to the all-conference second team. White was part of the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and was joined by Gabby Walker (Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound HS).

Kraft-Maple's selection as the Pair of the Year gives USC each of the last four and six of seven all-time awards. The same holds for Kraft's choice as Player of the Year, previously won twice by Kelly Claes (2016, '17), and three times by Tina Graudina (2019, '21, '22). Kraft was also part of the Pair of the Year with Graudina in 2021.

Kraft is now a three-time Pac-12 All-Conference first-teamer (2021, '22). Maple is a two-time all-conference choice but makes her first appearance on the first team after earning second-team laurels in 2022. Shields was chosen to the All-West Coast Conference first team in 2022 as a senior at Pepperdine and is a first-time All-Pac-12 choice. Shields and White push the number of Women of Troy named to the Pac-12's all-conference team to 17 and gives USC 36 all-time awards (24 first team, 12 second team).

White and Walker become the eighth and ninth USC freshmen to be named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team after no Trojans were selected in 2022. Maple and Kraft were all-freshman team members in 2021.

As the Trojans' No. 1 duo Kraft and Maple are 25-1 overall and enter the NCAA Championship tournament on a 15-match win streak. The incredible tandem has dropped just four sets this spring. Shields and White also eclipsed the 20-win mark and arrive in Gulf Shores with a 21-7 record this season. In their first years, White is 24-8 overall and Walker is 20-12 at various positions in the lineup.

Five-time national champion USC (28-5) received one of eight at-large berths into the 2023 NCAA Championship and begins defense of its back-to-back championships as the third seed in a round of 16 meeting with Sun Belt Conference champion 14th-seed Georgia State (20-16). The Women of Troy make their seventh appearance in the championship and meet the Panthers on Friday (May 5) at 1 p.m. PT (3 p.m. CT) at Gulf Beach Place in Gulf Shores, Ala. The dual will be shown live on ESPNU.

This spring, the Women of Troy have had win streaks of 10 and 14 duals and advanced to the contender's bracket semifinal of the Pac-12 Championship last weekend. USC is led by fourth-year head coach Dain Blanton who collected his 100th-career victory over the weekend in the Trojans' win over Arizona in the Pac-12 tournament.

For more information on the USC beach volleyball team, a complete schedule, and results, please visit USCTrojans.com/beach. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow the team on Instagram and on Twitter @USCBeach.

Players Mentioned

Tina Graudina

Megan Kraft

Delaynie Maple

Gabby Walker

Madison White