Olympics | August 05, 2024
PARIS, FRANCE — Several Trojans helped their respective teams take another step closer to Olympic podiums today, led by Micah Christenson‘s efforts for Team USA in pushing the U.S. men’s indoor volleyball team into medal contention after a quarterfinal win over Brazil today. Meanwhile, on the beach and in the pool, Trojans are through to quarterfinals in men’s water polo and beach volleyball after victorious days in Paris. For Team USA, Hannes Daube continued his scoring tear with a three-goal outing to push the United States out of reach of Croatia to wrap group play in men’s water polo. Daube has now scored 15 goals in the USA’s five games in group play as the Americans advance to the quarterfinals. So, to have Trojans representing Australia and Greece secured quarterfinal slots. In beach volleyball, USC alums Tina Graudina (Latvia) and Andy Benesh (USA) are each through to the quarterfinals after Round of 16 wins today. On the track, Trojans Rai Benjamin (USA) and Andre De Grasse (Canada) advanced to the semifinals in the 400m hurdles and 200m, respectively, after solid runs today. See below for full results and statistics for USC athletes in Paris today.
August 5 Recap
Men’s Indoor Volleyball
Quarterfinal: USA vs. Brazil
• Trojan alum and three-time Olympian Micah Christenson helped put Team USA within reach of a medal with a 3-1 (26-24, 28-30, 25-19, 25-19) quarterfinal win today over Brazil, pushing the Americans through to the semifinals on Aug. 7. Christenson had 42 assists, six digs, three kills and one ace for the USA in today’s win.
Women’s Beach Volleyball
Round of 16: Graudina/Samoilova (LAT) def. Müller/Tillmann (GER) 2-1
• A two-time national champion as a Trojan and two-time Olympian, Tina Graudina (Latvia) secured a spot in the quarterfinals with a tense 2-1 (21-13, 17-21, 18-16) win over Germany’s Müller/Tillmann. Graudina had 17 kills, seven blocks, three aces and three digs in today’s win.
Men’s Beach Volleyball
Round of 16: Benesh/Partain (USA) def. Cottafava/Nicolai (ITA) 2-0
• First-time Olympian Trojan Andy Benesh is on to the quarterfinals after helping his USA pair to a 2-0 (21-17, 21-18) win over Italians Cottafava/Nicolai. Benesh had eight kills, five blocks and two aces in…
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