Women’s Beach Volleyball | October 19, 2023
LOS ANGELES – The six-time national champion USC beach volleyball team will play in its first event of the fall at the AVCA Collegiate Beach West Coast Qualifier at the Manhattan Beach Pier, Friday-Sunday (Oct. 20-22).
Hosted by Sand Court Experts, play is set to begin at 9 a.m. PT on Friday (Oct. 20) and Saturday (Oct. 21) and end at approximately 4 p.m. each day. On Sunday (Oct. 22), play begins at 8:30 a.m. and concludes with the gold bracket championship at 1 p.m.
Among teams in attendance, 2022 NCAA runner-up UCLA, Grand Canyon, Cal Poly, Arizona, Long Beach State, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, Hawai’i, UC Davis, Santa Clara, TCU, Stanford, Washington, and California. Pairs from each school are seeded into gold, silver, and bronze pools, which will then play down an elimination bracket. Eliminated teams will return to new pools for additional matches.
New this fall, the event has been designated as one of two main events for participating teams to earn ranking points. Additionally, the winning pair out of the gold bracket will earn a bid to the 2023 AVCA Collegiate Beach Pairs National Championship set for Nov. 3-5 in Huntsville, Ala.
Under fifth-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 All-Conference Team and were joined by Madison Shields and Madison White. Blanton finished his fourth season with a 105-15 career record and Gustavo Rocha was chosen as the AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year.
For more information on the USC beach volleyball team, a complete schedule, and results, please visit USCTrojans.com/beach. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow the…
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