Beach prepares to honor seniors


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Senior Terese Cannon passes a serve-receive ball in a game at Merle Norman Stadium during the 2018 season.

No. 2 USC will compete in two final regular season games at home against Grand Canyon University and Cal Poly on Thursday. USC will celebrate its seniors while wrapping up a successful season as it heads into the Pac-12 tournament.

The Trojans currently hold a six-game winning streak after two dominant performances last Thursday. They swept Long Beach State and Pepperdine by commanding scores of 5-0 and 4-1, respectively. These victories were crucial as USC outplayed two top 10-ranked opponents.

The seniors’ experience will be important for the team on Senior Day as they are coming off of strong showcases at the top three spots against the Waves and 49ers. Seniors Abril Bustamante, Terese Cannon and Alexandra Poletto were each part of duos that went undefeated in both matchups last Thursday.

“As a team, we know that we are nearing the end of our season,” Cannon said. “We fought really hard and knew that these were some of the last chances we had to perfect our game.”

The Trojans will face No. 15 Grand Canyon University at 1 p.m. Thursday. GCU currently holds a winning streak of its own, having defeated its last four opponents. The Antelopes have asserted themselves as a strong team with these victories, even though all their opponents were unranked. Although this will be the first time the Trojans duel GCU this year, USC swept them in three matchups last year.

Cal Poly may prove to be a more significant challenge. The Mustangs are currently the seventh-ranked team in the nation and are coming off of a split in their most recent games last Saturday. The Mustangs fell to Pepperdine but defeated Cal, bringing their overall record to 19-8. This will also be the first time USC faces the Mustangs this year, and the Trojans defeated them in a close 3-2 finish when they met last season.

Following these final matchups, USC will remain at home to host the Pac-12 Championship at Merle Norman Stadium from April 25 to 27. The Trojans hope to avenge last year’s loss in the finals to UCLA and reclaim the title that they held for the two previous years.

“We feel really good [going into championship season],” Bustamante said. “We know that we can beat anyone.”