USC finishes Battle for LA Invitational 3-1


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USC beach volleyball wrapped up its first tournament of the 2022 season Sunday, finishing the Battle for L.A. Invitational 3-1 through two days of play.

The No. 1 Trojans opened the tournament at Mapes Beach Saturday morning with a 2-3 loss against their crosstown rival, No. 2 UCLA. USC and the Bruins had split their last two meetings, with UCLA taking home the 2021 Pac-12 Championship and the Trojans the 2021 NCAA championship. 

Saturday, the Trojans picked up their 2 points on court 2 with graduate student Sammy Slater and sophomore Megan Kraft, as well as court 3 with graduate student Julia Scoles and sophomore Delaynie Maple. 

“I don’t think we played with the urgency required to beat UCLA,” Head Coach Dain Blanton said. “We need to train to be focused from the first whistle until the end … you can’t take your foot off the gas.”

The Trojans bounced back quickly, however, with a 4-1 home victory over No. 7 Grand Canyon at Merle Norman stadium Saturday afternoon. The Trojans won across courts 1-4, dropping a point on court 5.

“I think it’s just coming out a little bit more mentally prepared,” junior Nicole Nourse said. “It’s always being ready … The fact that we put ourselves in a very good mental position, it allowed the physical play to just flow.”

For USC, being prepared is no simple exercise. It requires being focused and motivated during practice, warm-ups and throughout the entire match.

“[It’s about] competing every single day, bringing positive energy every single day, and just having a growth mindset, so that in May we are looking back with no regrets from our training that we are doing now,” graduate student Shannon Scully said. 

The Trojans were able to carry the momentum from Saturday afternoon’s victory into their matches Sunday, where they swept No. 8 Stanford and No. 14 Long Beach State at Merle Norman stadium 5-0.

Senior Tina Graudina and graduate student Hailey Harward won both matches Sunday on the first court, as did Kraft and Slater on court 2, Scoles and Maple on court 3 and senior Mollie Eberton and graduate student Sunny Villapando on court 5. 

Nourse won 2 points on court 4, paired once with her twin sister Audrey, and once paired with Scully. 

“You are going to have some wins and some losses, but the key is that we become better volleyball players and get closer to reaching our potential,” Blanton said. “I thought we made massive strides from yesterday morning’s match until the end here against Long Beach.”

One of those improvements was the energy USC played with. Over the course of the weekend, the Trojans found the competitive edge and team spirit that Blanton noticed lacking during their first match. 

“Our team support and our competitive energy and just staying together as a team was really good,” Scully said. “ I think we can keep doing that every single game moving forward.” 

This tournament, however, is just one of many that the Trojans will face on the road back to the championship in May. The season will have them traveling to tournaments in Florida (twice), Arizona and across California on the way to the Pac-12 and NCAA championships. 

“It’s just another box that is checked in a list that is leading up to NCAAs,” Nourse said. “We know who we represent, we know the program that we represent and we understand what it takes to be a USC Trojan. When we come out here, we have the opportunity to show that every single time. There is not even an opportunity to let the other team think that they have a chance.”

USC’s next challenge will be the Stetson Sun-N-Sand Invitational tournament in Deland, Fla. next weekend, where it will face No. 3 Florida State, No. 12 Florida Atlantic, Tampa and No. 16 Stetson. 

The first match begins Saturday morning.

“We won last year and that’s great,” Nourse said. “But we are out here to make a statement. We are out here to do it again.”