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No. 1 USC Beach Volleyball Rides 14-Dual Win Streak Into Death Volley Invite

by usctrojans.com
Mar 27, 2024

LOS ANGELES – The No. 1-ranked USC beach volleyball team (18-2) rides a 14-dual win streak into the Death Volley Invitational this weekend in Baton Rouge, La. It is the first-ever trip into the Pelican State for the Trojans but is a homecoming for graduate Grace Seits who played for the Tigers for three seasons.
 
The Women of Troy have won 14 straight contests to equal the program's fifth longest win streak set just a year ago. Through that run, USC has collected 11 clean 5-0 sweeps to go with a pair of 4-1 wins and has only been challenged to complete a 3-2 victory once by a then 18th-ranked Cal Poly (March 2). The Trojans are two wins from reaching 20 victories in a season for the 10th time in their 13-year history. USC has played 160 duals as the No. 1-ranked team in the country and are an incredible 144-16 in those contests. The Women of Troy checked in at the top spot in the AVCA poll for a record 46th time this week.

THIS WEEK
Beach Volleyball Stadium • Baton Rouge, La.
DEATH VOLLEY INVITATIONAL
WATCH LIVE: VBTV

MATCH #21 • Friday, March 29 • 11:30 a.m. CT/9:30 a.m. PT
No. 1 USC (18-2) vs. No. 4 TCU (18-2)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 7-1 (.875)
STREAK: Won 2 • LAST 10: 7-1
LAST MEETING: W 4-1 (Mar. 15, 2024 • Pompano Beach, Fla.)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoFrogs.com

MATCH #22 • Friday, March 29 • 3:15 p.m. CT/1:15 p.m. PT
No. 1 USC (18-2) vs. No. 17 Florida Atlantic (12-7)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 6-0 (1.000)
STREAK: Won 6 • LAST 10: 6-0
LAST MEETING: W 5-0 (Mar. 15, 2024 • Pompano Beach, Fla.)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: FAUSports.com

MATCH #23 • Sat., March 30 • 11:45 a.m. CT/9:45 a.m. PT
No. 1 USC (18-2) vs. No. 10 LSU (12-5)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 6-2 (.750)
STREAK: Won 3 • LAST 10: 6-2
LAST MEETING: W 4-1 (Mar. 31, 2023 • Manhattan Beach)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: LSUSports.net

MATCH #24 • Sat., March 30 • 2:15 p.m. CT/12:15 p.m. PT
No. 1 USC (18-2) vs. No. 5 Florida State (19-2)
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 20-5 (.800)
STREAK: Won 7 • LAST 10: 9-1
LAST MEETING: W 3-2 (April 14, 2023 • San Luis Obispo, Calif.)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: Seminoles.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 123-17 (.879) under fifth-year head coach Dain Blanton.
  • The Trojans are ranked No. 1 in the AVCA poll (No. 1, CBVB). It is the 106th time (of 106) USC is ranked by the AVCA; its 105th time among the top 5. The Trojans have also held the No. 1 spot a record 46 times.
  • The Women of Troy are 144-16 when ranked No. 1 in the AVCA poll.
  • USC's active 14-dual win streak matches the fifth-longest string in program history, set in 2023 (March 17-April 15).
  • The Trojans will play their first-ever duals in the state of Louisiana.
  • Three different USC pairs have eclipsed the double-digit win mark this season: Kraft-Maple (19-1), Kriz-Seits (15-1), and Nourse-Nourse (15-4). Individually, 12 different Trojans have reached double-digit wins through 20 duals.
  • Twin graduates Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse rank second among pairs in school history with 106 total wins. The sisters have played 126 matches together, which also ranks second in program history. Their 100-plus wins in dual matches are the most by any USC pair in school history.
  • The Trojans' senior All-Americans Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple are 47-4 all-time and have lost a total of only 11 sets in their 51 matches together.
  • USC has celebrated 15 AVCA All-Americans (30 certificates).

LAST TIME OUT: The Women of Troy extended their win streak to 14 duals to equal the fifth longest streak in program history with a pair of 5-0 sweeps of Concordia and Hawai'i on home sand. The wins also extended the Trojans' home win streak to a record 24 in a row. At the top court, All-Americans Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple improved to 19-1 on the season with a 14-match streak as a duo. Twin sisters Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse reached 15 wins (15-4) and fellow grads Maddi Kriz and Grace Seits won their 13th in a row to improve to 15-1.
 
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. One week later, in a 5-0 win over Utah, Audrey Nourse and Megan Kraft each reached 100-career wins to become the 14th and 15th Trojans to join the century club. Previously, 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.
 
DOUBLE CLUTCH: USC's twin-sister duo of Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse has won 106 matches. The twins are 106-20 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 twins' 104 wins in dual matches is the most by a USC pair. Including wins collected in pairs' tournaments, All-Americans Kelly Claes (Cheng) and Sara Hughes hold the school record with a 147-4 mark in their career at Troy but were 99-4 in dual competitions (48-0 in tournaments).
 
ROAD WARRIORS: The Trojans have played 14 of their 20 duals on the road this season. USC will take six trips this spring, an eye-popping number considering the team will only play on home sand on four days (eight duals). Including the Pac-12 Championship in Tempe, Ariz., USC has seven trips on its schedule.
 
CENTURY CITY: While four USC mainstays have already reached the 100-win mark in their careers this spring, two graduate transfers are on the verge of crossing the 100-win plateau as well. Ainsley Radell has a career-record of 93-35 with 82 wins as a member of the California Golden Bears. Maddi Kriz is 91-49 in her career with 73 wins while playing for the Stanford Cardinal. Both are now pursuing master's degrees at USC.
 
DOUBLE-DIGIT WIDGET: Three USC pairs have earned double-digit wins this season. At the No. 1 position, All-American seniors Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple are 19-1 to lead all duos. Twin graduate sisters Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse are 15-4 primarily at the No. 2 position. The Trojans' graduate tandem of Maddi Kriz and Grace Seits is 15-1 overall with a 13-1 mark at the No. 3 spot. In addition to these six players, five other Trojans have collected double-digit wins individually including freshman Ashley Pater (12-2), graduate Ainsley Radell (11-5), sophomore Madison White (17-2), freshman Madison Goellner (11-0), and sophomore Gabby Walker (12-2).
 

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