Women’s Beach Volleyball | August 30, 2022
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – USC beach volleyball All-American Allie Wheeler (Saratoga, Calif.) teamed with Deahna Kraft (Pepperdine) to go undefeated and claim the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Virginia Beach Open championship on Sunday, Aug. 28.
As the third-seeded tandem in the open, Kraft-Wheeler went 5-0 and didn’t drop a set en route to knocking off the top-seeded duo of Brazilians Larissa Maestrini and Liliane Maestrini in the final, 21-19, 24-22.
Following a first-round bye, Kraft and Wheeler opened with a 22-20, 21-15 win over Lauren DeTurk and Iya Lindahl. They then claimed a 21-16, 21-18 victory against Kim Hildreth and Karolina Marciniak to move into the quarterfinals. In the quarters, Kraft-Wheeler pressed ahead for a 21-10, 21-15 win against the second-seeded duo of Carly Kan and Kaitlyn Malaney before taking down Aurora Davis and Teegan Van Gunst in the semifinals to earn a meeting with Larissa and Liliane in the championship match.
The win is Wheeler’s first on the AVP’s pro tour. She and Kraft have played the entire 2022 season together and gone 18-14 overall with a pair of third-place finishes in Muskegon and Atlantic City.
The Virginia Beach Open is part of the AVP’s Pro Series events. Of the major Tour Series events, Trojan women have won five of the six events this summer including each of the last five. Up next, the AVP heads to Chicago this weekend (Sept. 2-4) for the Gold Series Chicago Open on Oak Street Beach sand. Visit AVP.com for more information.
Under third-year head coach Dain Blanton, the USC beach volleyball team captured its fourth NCAA Championship (fifth national title) and fourth Pac-12 crown in 2022. The Women of Troy finished the year ranked No. 1 and had a record of 37-1 with a 36-match win streak intact at the end. USC added four AVCA All-Americans to its history books with the four-time selection of Tina Graudina as well as the third-career honor for Sammy Slater. Graudina was named the Pac-12’s Player of the Year a third time and earned Pac-12 and AVCA Pair of the Year honors with partner Hailey…
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