Women’s Beach Volleyball | October 05, 2023
LOS ANGELES – Nine Trojans (seven women and two men) will take the sand for the 2023 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Tlaxcala, Mexico, from Oct. 6-15. Among the illustrious group of USC beach volleyball stars are eight alumni—including two men’s volleyball alum—and current Trojan three-time All-American Megan Kraft (San Diego, Calif.).
Ranked third in the world and also seeded third among a field of 48 women’s pairs, USC All-Americans Kelly Cheng (Fullerton, Calif.) and Sara Hughes (Costa Mesa, Calif.) will don the red, white, and blue for the United States; coached by USC’s associate head coach Gustavo Rocha. The pair won gold at the Tepic Elite 16 event in March and claimed AVP titles in Huntington Beach and New Orleans.
All-American Trojan Julia Scoles (Mooresville, N.C.) and partner Betsi Flint (Loyola Marymount) hold the 15th seed. The duo won the AVP’s coveted Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open championship in August. Seeded 16th, a second all-USC pair made up of All-American Terese Cannon (Pittsford, N.Y.) and current Trojan senior Kraft pairs for just their second tournament together. The two teamed up for the first time at the Paris Elite 16 event less than two weeks ago. Kraft was previously paired with Emily Stockman (Wichita State) and won the title of Queen of the Court in Hamburg in May. Cannon and her former partner Sarah Sponcil (UCLA) earned third place at the AVP Huntington Beach Open in May.
Four-time USC All-American Tina Graudina (Jurmala, Latvia) and partner Anastasija Samoilova represent Latvia. The pair won their third-career continental title at the Luxembourg Queen of the Court event in July and are seeded 18th in the World Championship field.
Seeded 38th, Trojan All-American Hailey Harward (Phoenix, Ariz.) partners with Alix Klineman (Stanford) after teaming up for the first time several weeks ago at the Paris Elite 16 event. Harward previously played partnered with Kelley Kolinske (Pepperdine) and won the AVP Tour Series Denver Open in July. Klineman was the longtime partner of USC All-American April Ross and won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
On the men’s side USC alum Andy Benesh (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) and partner Miles Partain (UCLA) are seeded third in…
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