#USC2Paris Olympics Recap (Day 13): Hannes Daube, Marko Vavic Help Team USA To Men’s Water Polo Semifinals in Paris

PARIS, FRANCE — USC is in medal contention in men's water polo, men's volleyball and diving after a busy day for Trojan Olympians in Paris. Former USC teammates squared off in the pool in a tense men's water polo quarterfinal, with Trojans Hannes Daube and Marko Vavic both scoring penalty shots for Team USA in a deciding shootout against Australia, which had four former Trojans capped up for the Sharks. The USA men are now through to the Olympic semifinals for the first time since 2008. In volleyball, Micah Christenson and the USA men took a tough loss to Poland in the semifinals today to move into the bronze-medal match. And incoming Trojan diver Moritz Wesseman earned a spot in the 3-meter platform final with his finish in today's semis. See below for full results and statistics for USC athletes in Paris today.

August 7 Recap
Men's Indoor Volleyball
Semifinal: Poland 3, USA 2
   • Trojan alum and three-time Olympian Micah Christenson will have a chance at a bronze medal after Team USA's 3-2 (25-23, 25-27, 14-25, 25-23, 15-13) loss to Poland. Christenson had 60 assists and a block for the USA, which will compete in the bronze-medal match on Aug. 9.

Men's Diving
3-Meter Platform Semifinals
   • Incoming Trojan and first-time Olympian Moritz Wesseman (Germany) placed eighth with a score of 433.00 to advance to the final on Aug. 8 .

Men's Water Polo
Quarterfinals: Serbia 12, Greece 11
   • Playing in his third Olympic Games, three-time NCAA champion Kostas Genidounias scored one goal and added a steal and rebound for Greece, which was edged out late by Serbia in today's quarterfinal. Greece will go on to the consolation semifinals to play for 5th-8th place.
Quarterfinals: USA 11, Australia 10 (shootout) — USA advances to semifinals vs. Serbia; Australia will play in consolation semis vs. Greece
   • Playing in his second Olympic Games, 2018 NCAA champion Hannes Daube scored two goals and had a field block during regulation for Team USA, then scored his penalty shot during the shootout to help the United State reach the Olympic semifinals for the first time since 2008.
   • Playing in his second Olympic Games, 2018 NCAA champion Marko Vavic had three steals during regulation and then scored the winning penalty shot for Team USA during the shootout.
   • Two-time Olympian Blake Edwards played but did not score for Australia in today's quarterfinal.
   • Two-time Olympian Lachlan Edwards recorded a steal and field block for Australia.
   • A 2018 NCAA champion at USC and first-time Olympian, Jacob Mercep scored one goal in regulation and score his penalty shot during the shootout for Australia.
   • A 2018 NCAA champion at USC and first-time Olympian, goalie Nic Porter recorded five saves during regulation and one penalty save during the shootout for Australia.

Women's Athletics
400m Semifinals
   • A two-time Olympian, Kendall Ellis (USA) finished fourth in her heat and ninth overall in a time of 50.40 to miss advancement to the final.

Men's Athletics
110m Hurdles Semifinals
   • First-time Olympian Tade Ojora (Great Britain) finished seventh in his semifinal heat and 21st overall in a time of 13.47 to miss advancement to the final.
200m Semifinals
   • Three-time Olympian Aaron Brown (Canada) finished seventh in his heat and 15th overall in a time of 20.57 to miss advancement to the final.
   • Three-time Olympian and six-time medalist Andre De Grasse (Canada) finished third in his heat and 10th overall in a time of 20.41 to miss advancement to the final.
400m Hurdles Semifinals
   • Two-time Olympian and medalist Rai Benjamin (USA) won his heat and finished third overall in a time of 47.85 to advance to the final on Aug. 9.
400m Final
   • Two-time Olympian and 2020 gold-medalist Michael Norman (USA) finished eighth in a time of 45.62.
Triple Jump Qualification
   • First-time Olympian Jordan Scott (Jamaica) finished ninth in his group and 24th overall with a score of 16.36 to miss advancement to the final.

Women's Beach Volleyball
Quarterfinals: Ana Patricia/Duda (Brazil) def. Graudina/Samoilova (Latvia) 2-0
   • A two-time national champion as a Trojan and two-time Olympian, Tina Graudina (Latvia) missed advancement to the semis with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-10) loss to Brazil's Ana Patricia/Duda. Graudina had six kills and three blocks in the match.

Men's Beach Volleyball
Quarterfinals: Tijan/Younousse (Qatar) def. Benesh/Partain (USA) 2-0
   • First-time Olympian Trojan Andy Benesh has his Olympic run come to a close in the quarterfinals with a 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) loss to Qatar's Tijan/Younousse, Benesh had 10 kills and five blocks in the match.

Women's Basketball
Nigeria 79, Canada 70
   • Former Trojan and two-time Olympian Amy Okonkwo scored eight points and had two rebounds, two steals and an assist for Nigeria in its win over Canada, recording the Nigerians' second win in group play and advancement to the quarterfinals on Aug. 7.

NEXT UP:
Tomorrow (Thursday, Aug. 8), USC will have athletes in action for athletics, diving, open water swimming and women's water polo, with medal opportunities on tap for Moritz Wesseman (Germany) in men's platform diving and for two Women of Troy — Anna Cockrell and Jasmine Jones — in the 400m hurdles final. USC will also have seven Trojans competing in women's water polo semifinals for Australia, Spain and the United States as they seek spots on the podium in Paris. Check the full list of participating Trojans along with schedule and results HERE: https://olympics.usctrojans.com/schedule

Players Mentioned

Jasmine Jones

Tade Ojora