Friday, April 11
San Luis Obispo, Calif.
10:00 a.m. PT
USC
vs
Florida State
Photo by: John McGillen
No. 6 USC Beach Volleyball Set for Center of Effort Challenge
April 08, 2025 | Women's Beach Volleyball
The Trojans have won five straight duals and will face several top-10 opponents this weekend
LOS ANGELES – The No. 6 USC beach volleyball team (20-6) rides a five-dual win streak into a weekend of top-10 matches at the Center of Effort Challenge in San Luis Obispo. The Women of Troy take on No. 7 Florida State (23-6) and tourney host No. 3 Cal Poly (21-3) on Friday (April 11) at the Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex; and then close out pool play with No. 5 Stanford (20-7) on Saturday morning (April 12). Finals begin at 2 p.m. PT with the seventh-place dual and culminate in the championship dual at 5:45 p.m. No. 1 TCU (19-3), No. 2 UCLA (24-4), No. 4 Loyola Marymount (26-4), and No. 12 Arizona State (17-9) play in the other pool.
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Two different USC pairs won awards following the Trojans' 4-0 showing at Best in the West last week. USC's top pair of sophomore Zoey Henson and junior Madison White were named the MPSF/Molten Pair of the Week, and its No. 2 duo of freshman Kennedy Coakley and sophomore Ashley Pater were chosen as the AVCA/CBVB National Pair of the Week. Henson-White captured the first-ever MPSF weekly award won by the Trojans (30th conference honor all-time) after a 4-0 weekend where they improved to 18-5. Coakley-Pater won their 16th straight match to go to 20-2 and picked up a record 12th national pair of the week award.Â
CENTER OF EFFORT CHALLENGE
MATCH #27 • Friday, April 11 • 10 a.m. PT
No. 6 USC (20-6) vs. No. 7 Florida State (23-6)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 21-6 (.778)
STREAK: Lost 1 • LAST 10: 8-2
LAST MEETING: L 3-2 (March 28, 2025 • Baton Rouge, La.)
MATCH #28 • Friday, April 11 • 7 p.m. PT
No. 6 USC (20-6) at No. 3 Cal Poly (21-3)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 10-0 (1.000)
STREAK: Won 10 • LAST 10: 10-0
LAST MEETING: W 3-0 (May 4, 2025 • Gulf Shores, Ala.)
MATCH #29 • Saturday, April 12 • 10:15 a.m. PT
No. 6 USC (20-6) vs. No. 5 Stanford (20-7)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 17-2 (.895)
STREAK: Won 2 • LAST 10: 8-2
LAST MEETING: W 4-1 (April 4, 2025 • Laguna Beach, Calif.)
BARE E-SAND-SHELLS • TL;DR
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NEW DIGS:Â USC plays its first season as a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in 2025. The Trojans were members of the Pac-12 from 2016 through 2024 and won five conference titles (2016-17, '19, '22, 24) including the first (2016) and final crown awarded in 2024. With the dissolution of the league, USC moved to the MPSF and is joined by UCLA, California, Stanford, Oregon, Washington, and Grand Canyon. The first MPSF beach volleyball tournament will be played April 23-25 on Spiker Beach in Huntington Beach, Calif. The champion of the seven-team league will receive the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA championship.
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A B1G DEAL:Â USC's home duals will be shown live on Big Ten Plus streams this spring. As part of a new agreement between the MPSF and the Big Ten Network, beach volleyball and men's volleyball contests at member schools will be carried on Big Ten Plus and are available inventory for BTN linear broadcasts. Check USCTrojans.com for links to live streams and broadcast information.
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ROAD WARRIORS:Â The Trojans play 27 of their 31 regular-season duals on the road this season. USC will take a total of six trips (one to Laguna Beach) in the regular season. Last year, including trips to play in the Pac-12 and NCAA tournaments, the Women of Troy took eight trips in total.
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POLL POSITION: USC opened the 2025 season ranked No. 1 in the AVCA Collegiate Beach preseason poll. The Women of Troy have been ranked in every AVCA poll for a total of 120 weeks. USC has also been ranked in the top five of the poll 117 times. The Trojans held that top-five distinction for 63 consecutive weeks from its inception until March 2, 2020. USC first seized the No. 1 ranking in both the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine polls on March 23, 2015, following a victory over then No. 1-ranked Hawai'i on the road and held the ranking for the rest of 2015. USC has been ranked No. 1 in 50 AVCA polls, the most all-time. The Trojans, Pepperdine, Hawai'i, UCLA, LSU, Florida State, and TCU are the only seven teams ever to hold the top spot in the poll. USC is 159-20 all-time when ranked No. 1.
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NATIONAL DRAW: The Trojan duo of freshman Kennedy Coakley and sophomore Ashley Pater were chosen as the AVCA/CBVB National Pair of the Week on April 7. The tandem went 4-0 to help USC go 4-0 at Best in the West and improved to 20-2 on the season with a 16-match win streak. Coakley-Pater collected USC's record 12th AVCA national pair of the week award, a career first for each student-athlete. Last year, a record three different Trojan pairs were selected for the honor: Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple (March 17), Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse (April 28), and Maddi Kriz and Madison White (May 7).
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POW-WOW: USC's tandem of Zoey Henson and Madison White claimed the honor of being the first Trojan pair to win the MPSF/Molten Pair of the Week award when they were chosen on April 8. It was the 30th time a USC duo was selected for league pair of the week honors. Previously, USC pairs won the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Pair of the Week award a league-best 29 times from 2016-24. Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple were the only pair to win the award in 2024 and did so on the final week of the regular season. They also won the award in 2023 along with Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse who were also chosen once. All-American Tina Graudina owns a record eight weekly awards having won with Abril Bustamante three times (2018-19), twice with Sammy Slater (2021), and once with Kraft (2021). As pairs go, All-Americans Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes are owners of a school-record five Pac-12 POW awards. Jenna Belton and Jo Kremer were the first-ever No. 5 pair to win the honor on March 21, 2017. USC's Nicolette Martin and Allie Wheelerhave the great distinction of being the first-ever Pac-12 Pair of the Week honorees; chosen from the No. 3 position as juniors on March 8, 2016.
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Two different USC pairs won awards following the Trojans' 4-0 showing at Best in the West last week. USC's top pair of sophomore Zoey Henson and junior Madison White were named the MPSF/Molten Pair of the Week, and its No. 2 duo of freshman Kennedy Coakley and sophomore Ashley Pater were chosen as the AVCA/CBVB National Pair of the Week. Henson-White captured the first-ever MPSF weekly award won by the Trojans (30th conference honor all-time) after a 4-0 weekend where they improved to 18-5. Coakley-Pater won their 16th straight match to go to 20-2 and picked up a record 12th national pair of the week award.Â
CENTER OF EFFORT CHALLENGE
Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex • San Luis Obispo, Calif.
MATCH #27 • Friday, April 11 • 10 a.m. PT
No. 6 USC (20-6) vs. No. 7 Florida State (23-6)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 21-6 (.778)
STREAK: Lost 1 • LAST 10: 8-2
LAST MEETING: L 3-2 (March 28, 2025 • Baton Rouge, La.)
MATCH #28 • Friday, April 11 • 7 p.m. PT
No. 6 USC (20-6) at No. 3 Cal Poly (21-3)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 10-0 (1.000)
STREAK: Won 10 • LAST 10: 10-0
LAST MEETING: W 3-0 (May 4, 2025 • Gulf Shores, Ala.)
MATCH #29 • Saturday, April 12 • 10:15 a.m. PT
No. 6 USC (20-6) vs. No. 5 Stanford (20-7)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 17-2 (.895)
STREAK: Won 2 • LAST 10: 8-2
LAST MEETING: W 4-1 (April 4, 2025 • Laguna Beach, Calif.)
BARE E-SAND-SHELLS • TL;DR
- USC has won the last four NCAA championships and owns seven national titles including the first NCAA crown awarded in 2016 (AVCA '15, NCAA '16, '17, '21, '22, '23, '24).
- The Trojans own five Pac-12 titles (2016, '17, '19, '22, '24).
- USC is 162-26 (.862) under sixth-year head coach Dain Blanton.
- The Women of Troy are ranked No. 6 in the AVCA poll. It is the 120th time (of 120) USC is ranked. The Trojans have ranked in the top five 117 times and have also held the No. 1 spot a record 50 times.
- The Trojans are 14-2 in duals played in San Luis Obispo. The only two losses were 3-2 results against crosstown rival UCLA in 2023 and 2024.
- So. Zoey Henson and Jr. Madison White are 18-5 at the No. 1 position and were named this week's MPSF/Molten Pair of the Week.
- The Trojans' No. 2 pair of Fr. Kennedy Coakley and So. Ashley Pater have produced a 20-2 record together and have won 16 straight matches (the program's 14th longest streak) and are this week's AVCA/CBVB National Pair of the Week.
- Gr. Ella Larkin (79-22), Jr. Madison White (75-22), and Gr. Maya Gessner (64-31) lead the Trojans in career victories. All of White's wins are with USC.
- Through 26 duals, USC has employed 18 different lineups with 29 different pairs.
- USC has celebrated 15 AVCA All-Americans and 32 individual certificates.
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NEW DIGS:Â USC plays its first season as a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in 2025. The Trojans were members of the Pac-12 from 2016 through 2024 and won five conference titles (2016-17, '19, '22, 24) including the first (2016) and final crown awarded in 2024. With the dissolution of the league, USC moved to the MPSF and is joined by UCLA, California, Stanford, Oregon, Washington, and Grand Canyon. The first MPSF beach volleyball tournament will be played April 23-25 on Spiker Beach in Huntington Beach, Calif. The champion of the seven-team league will receive the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA championship.
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A B1G DEAL:Â USC's home duals will be shown live on Big Ten Plus streams this spring. As part of a new agreement between the MPSF and the Big Ten Network, beach volleyball and men's volleyball contests at member schools will be carried on Big Ten Plus and are available inventory for BTN linear broadcasts. Check USCTrojans.com for links to live streams and broadcast information.
Â
ROAD WARRIORS:Â The Trojans play 27 of their 31 regular-season duals on the road this season. USC will take a total of six trips (one to Laguna Beach) in the regular season. Last year, including trips to play in the Pac-12 and NCAA tournaments, the Women of Troy took eight trips in total.
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POLL POSITION: USC opened the 2025 season ranked No. 1 in the AVCA Collegiate Beach preseason poll. The Women of Troy have been ranked in every AVCA poll for a total of 120 weeks. USC has also been ranked in the top five of the poll 117 times. The Trojans held that top-five distinction for 63 consecutive weeks from its inception until March 2, 2020. USC first seized the No. 1 ranking in both the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine polls on March 23, 2015, following a victory over then No. 1-ranked Hawai'i on the road and held the ranking for the rest of 2015. USC has been ranked No. 1 in 50 AVCA polls, the most all-time. The Trojans, Pepperdine, Hawai'i, UCLA, LSU, Florida State, and TCU are the only seven teams ever to hold the top spot in the poll. USC is 159-20 all-time when ranked No. 1.
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NATIONAL DRAW: The Trojan duo of freshman Kennedy Coakley and sophomore Ashley Pater were chosen as the AVCA/CBVB National Pair of the Week on April 7. The tandem went 4-0 to help USC go 4-0 at Best in the West and improved to 20-2 on the season with a 16-match win streak. Coakley-Pater collected USC's record 12th AVCA national pair of the week award, a career first for each student-athlete. Last year, a record three different Trojan pairs were selected for the honor: Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple (March 17), Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse (April 28), and Maddi Kriz and Madison White (May 7).
Â
POW-WOW: USC's tandem of Zoey Henson and Madison White claimed the honor of being the first Trojan pair to win the MPSF/Molten Pair of the Week award when they were chosen on April 8. It was the 30th time a USC duo was selected for league pair of the week honors. Previously, USC pairs won the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Pair of the Week award a league-best 29 times from 2016-24. Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple were the only pair to win the award in 2024 and did so on the final week of the regular season. They also won the award in 2023 along with Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse who were also chosen once. All-American Tina Graudina owns a record eight weekly awards having won with Abril Bustamante three times (2018-19), twice with Sammy Slater (2021), and once with Kraft (2021). As pairs go, All-Americans Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes are owners of a school-record five Pac-12 POW awards. Jenna Belton and Jo Kremer were the first-ever No. 5 pair to win the honor on March 21, 2017. USC's Nicolette Martin and Allie Wheelerhave the great distinction of being the first-ever Pac-12 Pair of the Week honorees; chosen from the No. 3 position as juniors on March 8, 2016.
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Players Mentioned
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
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