No. 3 USC Beach Volleyball Heads to Tempe for Pac-12 South Invitational

LOS ANGELES – The third-ranked USC beach volleyball team (8-2) heads to the Copper State where the Trojans are 32-1 and have won their last 25 duals. The Women of Troy will face No. 14 Washington, No. 19 Arizona, Utah, and Oregon in the Pac-12 South Invitational hosted by Arizona State at the new Sun Devil Beach Volleyball Facility in Tempe, Ariz. USC has won four straight duals heading into the weekend and is a combined 36-0 against its four opponents this weekend.

THIS WEEK
PAC-12 SOUTH INVITATIONAL
Sun Devil Beach Volleyball Facility • Tempe, Ariz.
WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Networks (Washington/Arizona)

MATCH #11 • Saturday, March 9 • 12 p.m. MST/11 a.m. PT
No. 3 USC (8-2) vs. Utah (6-2)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 6-0 (1.000)
STREAK: Won 6 • LAST 10: 6-0
LAST MEETING: W 5-0 (Apr. 8, 2023 • Stanford, Calif.)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UtahUtes.com

MATCH #12 • Saturday, March 9 • 8 p.m. MST/7 p.m. PT
No. 3 USC (8-2) vs. No. 14 Washington (3-5)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 9-0 (1.000)
STREAK: Won 9 • LAST 10: 9-0
LAST MEETING: W 3-1 (Apr. 27, 2023 • Stanford, Calif.)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoHuskies.com

MATCH #13 • Sunday, March 10 • 12 p.m. PT
No. 3 USC (8-2) vs. No. 19 Arizona (7-0)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 12-0 (1.000)
STREAK: Won 12 • LAST 10: 10-0
LAST MEETING: W 3-0 (Apr. 26, 2023 • Stanford, Calif.)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: ArizonaAthletics.com

MATCH #14 • Sunday, March 10 • 2 p.m. PT
No. 3 USC (8-2) vs. Oregon (1-7)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 9-0 (1.000)
STREAK: Won 9 • LAST 10: 9-0
LAST MEETING: W 5-0 (Apr. 7, 2023 • Stanford, Calif.)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoDucks.com

BARE E-SAND-SHELLS • TL;DR

USC has won the last three NCAA championships and owns six national titles including the first NCAA crown in 2016 (AVCA '15, NCAA '17, '21, '22, '23).
The Trojans have won four Pac-12 championships (2016, '17, '19, '22).
USC is 113-17 (.869) under fifth-year head coach Dain Blanton.
The Trojans are ranked No. 3 in the AVCA (No. 2, CBVB). It is the 103rd time (of 103) USC is ranked by the AVCA; its 102nd time among the top 5. The Trojans have also held the No. 1 spot a record 43 times.
USC is a combined 36-0 against its four opponents this weekend.
The Trojans are 32-1 in the Copper State and are 7-0 in the city of Tempe with a 14-0 record in the greater Phoenix metro area.
Twin graduates Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse rank second among pairs in school history with 98 total wins. The sisters have played 117 matches together, which also ranks second in program history. Last week, the sister-duo went ahead of Nicolette Martin and Allie Wheeler (91 wins, 2014-16).
The Trojans' senior All-Americans Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple are 37-4 all-time and have lost a total of only 10sets in their 41 matches together.
USC has celebrated 15 AVCA All-Americans (30 certificates).

LAST TIME OUT: The Women of Troy improved to 87-11 all-time at Merle Norman Stadium with four home victories last weekend. The Trojans picked up 5-0 sweeps of No. 9 Long Beach State, No. 14 Grand Canyon, and Concordia, and closed out a hard-fought 3-2 win over 18th-ranked Cal Poly to run their school-record home win streak to 22 consecutive victories. Delaynie Maple and Nicole Nourse each reached the 100-career wins plateau in USC's win over the Golden Eagles while Megan Kraft and Audrey Nourse collected their 99th-career wins.

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS: In a 5-0 sweep of Concordia (March 1), Delaynie Maple and Nicole Nourse each collected their 100th-career victories to move into 12th and 13th respectively in the Trojans' all-time records. On the same day, Audrey Nourse and Megan Kraft each reached 99-career wins. Prior to Maple and Nourse, the last two Women of Troy to reach the 100-win club were All-Americans Tina Graudina (122 wins) and Sammy Slater (118 wins), both in 2022.

COPPER TOPPER: The Trojans are 32-1 all-time in the Copper State. In fact, USC has won its last 25 consecutive duals in the state of Arizona. Its only loss came against UCLA in the winner's bracket final of the 2017 Pac-12 Championship in Tucson. In the city of Tempe specifically, the Trojans are a perfect 7-0 and hold a 14-0 mark when playing in the Greater Phoenix Metro area.

DOUBLE CLUTCH: USC's twin-sister duo of Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse has won 98 matches. The twins are 98-19 all-time and are 20-3 when their match has clinched the outcome of a dual. More specifically, when the score is tied, 2-2, and the twins are playing to decide the victor, Audrey and Nicole are 3-2, which includes a big three-set win in the final match of the 2023 NCAA Championship dual to give USC its third consecutive national championship.

THE CHAMP IS HERE: USC is the three-time defending NCAA champion ('21, '22, '23). The Trojans captured the program's fifth NCAA title and sixth national crown in 2023. USC won the final AVCA championship in 2015 and owns the first two NCAA titles (2016, '17). The Women of Troy have also claimed four of the seven Pac-12 championships (2016, '17, '19, '22).

USC'S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: USC has played in the national collegiate tournament all but once since the program began in 2012. It made appearances in the AVCA championship in 2013 and 2014 but went 2-2 each year as Pepperdine and Long Beach State claimed national titles. Under head coach Anna Collier, the Trojans broke through to win their first national crown in 2015; a title accompanied by an unblemished 28-0 record. In 2016, the NCAA sponsored its first beach volleyball championship as USC went 34-2 to capture 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 their second consecutive NCAA title; and third straight national championship. USC was 2-2 in 2018 and finished as the runner-up to UCLA in the 2019 NCAA championship. While there was no 2020 championship due to the COVID-19 world pandemic, the Women of Troy returned to form in 2021 and went 30-4 overall under head coach Dain Blanton to secure the program's fourth national crown. In 2022, the Trojans were 37-1 and won 36 in a row to lock up back-to-back national championships. USC entered the 2023 championship as the third seed and shocked the field with wins over No. 2 TCU and No. 1 UCLA in the semifinal and championship duals, respectively, to win an unprecedented third straight NCAA title; the sixth national crown for the program.

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Players Mentioned

Megan Kraft

Delaynie Maple

Audrey Nourse

Nicole Nourse