#USC2Paris Olympics Recap (Day 11): Micah Christenson Helps USA Men’s Volleyball Advance To Semifinals

PARIS, FRANCE — Several Trojans helped their respective teams take another step closer to Olympic podiums today, led by Micah Christenson's efforts for Team USA in pushing the U.S. men's indoor volleyball team into medal contention after a quarterfinal win over Brazil today. Meanwhile, on the beach and in the pool, Trojans are through to quarterfinals in men's water polo and beach volleyball after victorious days in Paris. For Team USA, Hannes Daube continued his scoring tear with a three-goal outing to push the United States out of reach of Croatia to wrap group play in men's water polo. Daube has now scored 15 goals in the USA's five games in group play as the Americans advance to the quarterfinals. So, to have Trojans representing Australia and Greece secured quarterfinal slots. In beach volleyball, USC alums Tina Graudina (Latvia) and Andy Benesh (USA) are each through to the quarterfinals after Round of 16 wins today. On the track, Trojans Rai Benjamin (USA) and Andre De Grasse (Canada) advanced to the semifinals in the 400m hurdles and 200m, respectively, after solid runs today. See below for full results and statistics for USC athletes in Paris today.

August 5 Recap
Men's Indoor Volleyball
Quarterfinal: USA vs. Brazil
   • Trojan alum and three-time Olympian Micah Christenson helped put Team USA within reach of a medal with a 3-1 (26-24, 28-30, 25-19, 25-19) quarterfinal win today over Brazil, pushing the Americans through to the semifinals on Aug. 7. Christenson had 42 assists, six digs, three kills and one ace for the USA in today's win.

Women's Beach Volleyball
Round of 16: Graudina/Samoilova (LAT) def. Müller/Tillmann (GER) 2-1
   • A two-time national champion as a Trojan and two-time Olympian, Tina Graudina (Latvia) secured a spot in the quarterfinals with a tense 2-1 (21-13, 17-21, 18-16) win over Germany's Müller/Tillmann. Graudina had 17 kills, seven blocks, three aces and three digs in today's win.

Men's Beach Volleyball
Round of 16: Benesh/Partain (USA) def. Cottafava/Nicolai (ITA) 2-0
   • First-time Olympian Trojan Andy Benesh is on to the quarterfinals after helping his USA pair to a 2-0 (21-17, 21-18) win over Italians Cottafava/Nicolai. Benesh had eight kills, five blocks and two aces in today's Round of 16 victory.

Men's Athletics
400m Hurdles Round 1
   • Two-time Olympian and medalist Rai Benjamin (USA) won his heat and placed 16th overall in a time of 48.82 to advance to the semifinals on Aug. 7.
200m Round One
   • Three-time Olympian and six-time medalist Andre De Grasse (Canada) finished second in his heat in a time of 20.30 to advance to the semifinals on Aug. 7.
   • Three-time Olympian Aaron Brown (Canada) finished fourth in his heat in a time of 20.45 to miss automatic advancement to the semifinals; he will race in Repechage on Aug. 6.

Women's Athletics
400m Round 1
   • A two-time Olympian, Kendall Ellis (USA) finished fifth in her hear and 24th overall in a time of 51.16 to miss automatic advancement to the semifinals; she will race in Repechage on Aug. 6.
400m Hurdles Repechage
   • A two-time Olympian, Gianna Woodruff (Panama) finished third in her heat in a time of 55.10, missing advancement to the semifinals.
200m Semifinals
   • A first-time Olympian, Lanae-Tava Thomas (Jamaica) finished fifth in her semifinal race in a time of 22.77, missing advancement to the final.

Men's Water Polo
Group B Play: Japan 14, Australia 13 — Australia finishes second in group to advance to quarterfinals
   • A 2018 NCAA champion at USC and first-time Olympian, goalie Nic Porter played in goal in the first half for Australia, making six saves and allowing six goals as the Aussies led it 7-6 at halftime before falling to Japan.
   • Two-time Olympian Blake Edwards scored one goal and had a steal for Australia.
   • Two-time Olympian Lachlan Edwards scored two goals for Australia.
   • A 2018 NCAA champion at USC and first-time Olympian, Jacob Mercep made his first start for Australia in Paris.
Group A Play: Greece 9, Italy 8 — Greece finishes first in group to advance to quarterfinals
   • Playing in his third Olympic Games, three-time NCAA champion Kostas Genidounias scored one goal and had two rebounds for Greece in its win over Italy.
Group A Play: USA 14, Croatia 11 — USA finishes third in group to advance to quarterfinals
   • Playing in his second Olympic Games, 2018 NCAA champion Hannes Daube scored three goals for Team USA to help secure its third win of group play. Daube has scored a total of 15 goals in the USA's first five games in Paris.
   • Playing in his second Olympic Games, 2018 NCAA champion Marko Vavic scored one goal and added a steal in Team USA's win.

Women's Diving
10m Platform Preliminary
   • First-time Olympian and incoming Trojan Kate Miller (CAN) finished 20th with a scored of 266.30 to miss automatic qualification for the semifinals; she will stand as one of two reserve participants for the semis.

NEXT UP:
Tomorrow (Tuesday, Aug. 6), Olympic competition heats up in the pool when seven Women of Troy dig in for quarterfinal action in women's water polo. Two-time silver-medalist Anni Espar (Spain) will go up against two Trojans on Team Canada — Verica Bakoc and Hayley McKelvey — in the first quarterfinal of the day. After that, Australian current Trojan Tilly Kearns has a quarterfinal clash with Greece, and then American Trojan trio Emily Ausmus, Kaleigh Gilchrist and Amanda Longan cap up for Team USA against Hungary in an effort to push through to the semifinal round. Meanwhile, beach volleyball stars Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes (USA) have a quarterfinal bout on tap tomorrow. There's plenty more ahead in Paris for USC athletes as well, including several semifinal races on the track. Check the full list of participating Trojans along with schedule and results HERE.

University Southern California Trojans

#USC2Paris Olympics Recap (Day 11): Micah Christenson Helps USA Men’s Volleyball Advance To Semifinals

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