USC qualifies for national championships


The No. 4-ranked USC women’s sand volleyball team has been selected to participate in the second-annual American Volleyball Coaches Association Collegiate Sand Volleyball National Championship, to be held in Gulf Shores, Ala., from May 3-5.

Title chasing · Junior Brooke Fournier (above) and the Women of Troy will look to win a national championship in Gulf Shores, Ala. - William Ehart | Daily Trojan

Title chasing · Junior Brooke Fournier (above) and the Women of Troy will look to win a national championship in Gulf Shores, Ala. – William Ehart | Daily Trojan

 

This will be the Women of Troy’s second consecutive appearance in the tournament, making them two for two in their two years of existence as a varsity sport.

The Women of Troy (14-6) are seeded fourth in the tournament and have been ranked fourth in the nation for the majority of the season. Their highest ranking earlier this season was third, but they dropped a spot after narrowly losing to Florida State.

USC will be joining a six-team field that includes all of the top teams in the nation. Defending national champion Pepperdine is set to participate, as is No. 2 seed Long Beach State and No. 3-seeded Florida State. The two teams in the tournament that the Women of Troy have not faced this season are No. 5-seeded North Florida and No. 6-seeded,                        Louisiana-Monroe.

Along with the team tournament, the event will also include a single-elimination, 16-team pairs championship that will feature the top duos in the nation on sand. Both the No. 1-ranked pair, composed of junior Kirby Burnham and graduate student Stevi Robinson, and the No. 2-ranked pair, senior Katie Fuller and freshman Cinnamon Sary, will be representing USC.

USC will begin team play on May 3 against North Florida at 7 a.m. The winner of that match will face undefeated Pepperdine, who has yet to drop a match and is 18-0 this season. Pepperdine also beat the Women of Troy twice earlier in the season.

The Women of Troy’s two pairs teams will begin play in the pairs championship on May 5 at 6 a.m. Portions of both the team and pairs competitions will also be available on the CBS Sports Network.