Women’s Beach Volleyball | July 05, 2023
DENVER – USC beach volleyball All-American Hailey Harward (Phoenix, Ariz.) partnered with Kelley Kolinske (San Diego, Calif.) to win the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Tour Series Denver Open at The Island on Sunday, July 2.
Previously, Harward won the 2022 Fort Lauderdale Open—a Pro Series event—with USC All-American Tina Graudina (Jurmala, Latvia) last summer; her first-career AVP title. The Denver Open championship is Kolinske’s fifth-career AVP win.
As the top-seeded pair in the field, Harward and Kolinske fought it out for a three-set win over the sixth-seeded duo of Toni Rodriguez and Savvy Simo, 21-15, 20-22, 15-9, in the decisive championship match.
Harward-Kolinske picked up a pair of straight-set victories in pool play to move directly into the main draw. They defeated Alaina Chacon and Kylie Deberg, 21-13, 21-15; and then took down the 12th-seeded team of Xolani Hodel and Kahlee York, 21-17, 21-18.
In the round of 16, Harward and Kolinske earned a hard-fought three-set win over All-Pac-12 Trojan Madison Shields (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) and Lydia Smith, 21-16, 15-21, 15-11. They then advanced through their quarterfinal match-up with a 21-19, 21-14 win to topple the second-seeded pair of Deahna Kraft and Zana Muno. In the semifinals, Harward-Kolinske defeated 11th-seeded Carly Skjodt and Jaden Whitmarsh, 21-19, 21-19, to move into the championship match.
Shields finished in a tie for ninth place. Among other Trojans in the field, All-American Delaynie Maple (San Diego, Calif.) finished in 19th place with partner Devon Newberry. Former USC assistant coach Laurel Weaver and sophomore Bailey Showalter (North Bend, Wash.) each earned a 25th-place finish.
Under fourth-year head coach Dain Blanton, the USC beach volleyball team captured its third straight NCAA Championship (fifth NCAA title and sixth national title) in 2023. The Women of Troy finished the year ranked No. 1 and had an overall record of 32-5. USC added two more AVCA All-Americans to its history books with the third selection for Megan Kraft and the first-career honor for Delaynie Maple. Kraft was named the Pac-12’s Player of the Year while she and Maple earned Pac-12 Pair of the Year laurels. Both were named to the Pac-12…
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