USC Beach Volleyball's Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple Earn AVCA All-America Laurels

LEXINGTON, Ky. – USC beach volleyball juniors Megan Kraft (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines HS) and Delaynie Maple (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines HS) were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America First Team on Thursday, May 4.

Maple becomes the 15th Trojan to earn AVCA All-America laurels and the duo brings home the program's 29th and 30th all-time certificates; most in the country. While it is Maple's first-career selection, Kraft earns her third All-America certificate and was named to the first team for the second time. Kraft was a first-team choice in 2021 and was a member of the second team in 2022.

The duo was chosen as the Pac-12 Pair of the Year and Kraft was tabbed the Pac-12's Player of the Year. Both players were named to the Pac-12 All-Conference first team; Kraft for the third time. Maple is now a two-time All-Pac-12 choice and made her first appearance on the first team alongside Kraft.

As the Trojans' No. 1 duo Kraft and Maple are 25-1 this season and 26-1 all-time. They enter the NCAA Championship tournament on a 15-match win streak and have dropped just four sets this spring. Kraft-Maple was named to the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team, earned Pac-12 Pair of the Week honors on March 7, and was the AVCA/CBVB National Pair of the Week on March 6.

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

Megan Kraft

Delaynie Maple