#USC2Paris Olympics Recap (Day Two): Trojans Open With Wins In Women’s Water Polo, Men’s Indoor Volleyball

PARIS, FRANCE — Hours after the conclusion of the Olympic Opening Ceremony in Paris, several Trojans got right down to business with their first competition of these 2024 Paris Olympic Games. In a busy day for USC's contingent repping seven different nations today (July 27), Trojans saw team success in women's water polo and men's indoor volleyball, while swimmer Louise Hansson helped Sweden to a fifth-place finish in the women's 4x100 freestyle relay final. See below for full results.

July 27 Recap
Women's Water Polo
USA 15, Greece 6
   • Incoming freshman Emily Ausmus made her Olympic debut for Team USA and scored her first Olympic goal, helping the USA to an 8-1 lead over Greece in the second period.
   • Playing in her third Olympic Games, alum Kaleigh Gilchrist helped USC to a 5-0 lead over the Greeks with her goal in the second period.
   • Two-time NCAA champion and Olympian Amanda Longan checked into the cage in the fourth period for the USA and made two saves to help anchor the 15-6 victory.
Spain 15, France 6
   • Playing in her fourth Olympic Games, Anni Espar helped guide Spain to victory, winning three sprints and adding two steals as she played all but five minutes in Spain's opening win over host France.
Australia 7, China 5
   • Playing in her second Olympic Games, returning Trojan Tilly Kearns didn't score but drew a late 5-meter penalty shot for the Aussies to break a 5-5 tie in the fourth period to help Australia to a 7-5 win over China.

Men's Indoor Volleyball
USA 3, Argentina 0
   • Trojan alum and three-time Olympian Micah Christenson helped the USA to an opening 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-16) win in Pool C. He tallied 23 assists along with an ace and a dig in the Team USA victory.

Men's Beach Volleyball
Diaz/Alayo (CUB) def. Benesh/Partain (USA) 2-0
   • Trojan Andy Benesh made his Olympic debut, taking an opening 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) loss to Cuba's Diaz/Alayo. He recorded nine kills, two blocks and an ace in the match.
Ahman/Helvig (SWE) def. Carracher/Nicolaidis (AUS) 2-0
   • Trojan Izac Carracher made his Olympic debut, taking an opening 2-0 (21-14, 21-19) loss to Sweden's Ahman/Helvig. He notched 10 kills in the match.

Women's Beach Volleyball
Kloth/Nuss (USA) def. Bansley/Bukovec (CAN) 2-0
   • Three-time NCAA champion Sophie Bukovec made her Olympic debut for Canada, taking an opening 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) loss to USA's Kloth/Nuss. She had three kills and a block in the match.

Women's Swimming
100m Butterfly Heats
   • USC alum Louise Hansson (Sweden) advanced to the semifinals with a 12th-place time of 57.57 in the morning's heats. In the semis, she finished eighth with a time of 56.93 to advance to tomorrow's final.
4x100m Freestyle Relay Heats
   • USC alum Kasia Wilk-Wasick (Poland) and current Trojan Minna Abraham (Hungary) finished 13th and 10th, respectively, with their relay teams to miss out on advancement to the final.
4x100m Freestyle Relay Final
   • USC alum Louise Hansson (Sweden) swam the anchor leg of Sweden's relay, which finished fifth overall with a time of 3:33.79.

Men's Swimming
400m Freestyle Heats
   • USC alum Victor Johansson (Sweden) missed out on advancement to the final with an 18th-place finish (3:47.98) in this morning's heats.

NEXT UP:
Tomorrow (July 28), USC will have athletes in action for women's rowing, men's water polo, men's and women's swimming, women's soccer and women's beach volleyball. Sweden's Louise Hansson is the first Trojan with a medal opportunity when she swims in another final tomorrow, racing in the 100m butterfly final at 11:40 a.m. PT. Check the full list of participating Trojans along with schedule and results HERE.

Players Mentioned

Minna Abraham

Tilly Kearns