While most of the country is making final preparations for conference championship tournaments that begin this weekend in the CCSA, WCC, and ASUN, the #1 team in the land, USC, still has a busy weekend of regular-season play before the Pac-12 and Big West tournaments start next weekend.
The weekend began on Thursday, with USC wins over #5 Long Beach State and CSU-Bakersfield. That pushed their winning streak to 57-straight duals, including 27-0 this season – both of which will be put on the line Saturday against their arch-rivals UCLA on senior day. UCLA is currently the #2 team in the country.
After USC won the opening game on the #4 court 2-0 (Abril Bustamante and Joy Dennis), Long Beach State took court 5 thanks to Jenelle Hudson/Megan Kruidhof to even up the day – snapping an 8-match winning streak by USC’s Jenna Belton/Jo Kremer. From there-on, however, it as all USC. The Trojans wouldn’t lose another set in the matchup, including a win at the #1 line by Kelly Claes/Sara Hughes over Nele Barber/Rachel Nieto.
Long Beach State is one of only 4 teams to have ever beaten USC in the history of the program. The teams’ first 6 matchups went 5-1 in favor of Long Beach State, but lately the Trojans have had their winning – taking 5 straight.
A sweep over 1-16 CSUB made the streak 57-straight for USC later in the day.
Full Thursday, April 20th NCAA Beach Volleyball Scoreboard
Winning Team | Losing Team | Score | Winning Team Recap | Losing Team Recap |
#1 USC | #5 Long Beach State | 4-1 | Link | Link |
#1 USC | CSU-Bakersfield | 5-0 | Link | Link |
#5 Long Beach State | CSU-Bakersfield | 5-0 | Link | Link |
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