Three USC Men’s Volleyball Trojans Set for Paris Games

Men’s Volleyball | July 25, 2024

LOS ANGELES – Three USC men’s volleyball players will compete at the upcoming Paris Summer Olympic Games beginning this week. All-American setter Micah Christenson (Honolulu, Hawai’i/Kamehameha-Kapalama HS) was named to the U.S. Senior National Team for the third time. Andy Benesh (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes HS) and Izac Carracher (Sydney, Australia/Sydney Grammar) will each make their Olympic debuts in beach volleyball.
 
Christenson won bronze with Team USA at the 2016 Rio Games and played for the U.S. at the 2020 Tokyo Games (played in 2021). He is the starting setter for the sixth-ranked team in the world.
 
Benesh—a four-year starter who graduated in 2017—and his partner Miles Partain are one of two U.S. pairs and comprise the 11th-ranked men’s beach volleyball duo in the world. Carracher—a member of USC’s 2019 squad—and partner Mark Nicolaidis are ranked 27th in the world and are one of two pairs representing Australia at the Summer Games. Benesh and Carracher are the 16th and 17th USC men’s volleyball Olympians; the second and third to qualify for the beach volleyball tournament (Tri Bourne, 2020). 
 
The men’s indoor volleyball tournament begins with the preliminary phase in which 12 teams are divided into three pools of four teams each. Every team will play the three other teams in its pool. The top two teams from each pool and the two best third-placed teams will advance to the single-elimination tournament beginning with the quarterfinals.
 
Pairs in the Olympic men’s beach volleyball tournament will play three matches in pool play for the right to advance to the single-elimination tournament. Organized into six pools with four pairs each, the six pool winners, the six runners-up, and the best two of the six third-placed teams advance directly to the round of 16. The remaining four third-placed teams play in a single-elimination “lucky-loser round”, where the two winners complete the 16 teams that will play down a single-elimination bracket.
 
MEN’S INDOOR VOLLEYBALL POOL C – MICAH CHRISTENSON
July 27 – 12 p.m. PT | USA vs. Argentina
July 30…