Future of USC

[Fight On!]

4 Trojans in the finals at Hermosa!
Cheng, Hughes, Cannon, Kraft
FTFO!

[hbmb10k]

Coakley/Pater would likely eventually be paired up, not necessarily as the #1 though, in the top 3. Others in top three courts would be some combination of White and Gessner as blockers, and Thomas, Henson as defenders.

[burbank55]

Sept 7, 2024 17:11:33 GMT -5 Fight On! said:

4 Trojans in the finals at Hermosa!
Cheng, Hughes, Cannon, Kraft
FTFO!

Always good to guarantee Trojan winners! Cannon/Kraft played great during this tourney too.

Finally seeing some Bruins contending as well. Of the final 8 players, 3 were Bruins and 5 were Trojans.

http://instagram.com/p/C_okSQ5s6Y1

[southeastvolley]

What a great tourney! And so cool that they got such awesome sponsorship. Let's hope this can continue!!!!

[moimoi]

I hope such great news will be posted on usctrojans homepage... Congrats Trojans!

[burbank55]

Sept 10, 2024 18:05:41 GMT -5 moimoi said:

I hope such great news will be posted on usctrojans homepage... Congrats Trojans!

Haven’t seen it yet.  They had posted when Cheng/Hughes won World Championships and Ostrava E16.  And when Kraft/Cannon won the last NORCECA Beach Final gold medal.  And Cannon, Kraft and Graudina getting Top 3 in Gstaad E16.

moimoi, I see you gave USC Indoor under a 1% chance of beating Pitt tonight.  What % do you give USC Beach to win it all again this year?

Edit: The official USCbeach account only posted on IG on Wednesday.  Not sure why the delay.  Didn’t get a usctrojans.com story.  Maybe needs to be a bigger win?

http://instagram.com/p/C_yaKwLyJTk

[moimoi]

Sept 11, 2024 12:43:52 GMT -5 burbank55 said:

Sept 10, 2024 18:05:41 GMT -5 moimoi said:

I hope such great news will be posted on usctrojans homepage... Congrats Trojans!

Haven’t seen it yet.  They had posted when Cheng/Hughes won World Championships and Ostrava E16.  And when Kraft/Cannon won the last NORCECA Beach Final gold medal.  And Cannon, Kraft and Graudina getting Top 3 in Gstaad E16.

moimoi, I see you gave USC Indoor under a 1% chance of beating Pitt tonight.  What % do you give USC Beach to win it all again this year?

Hmmm.. if all the coaches remain the same and under coach Dain and Gustavo, I think USC Trojans have 25% of winning another title this year. There's TCU, Stanford, Cal poly, Florida State and of course UClA whom I think have better chance of winning it all this year. What do YOU think?

Btw, can't wait to watch USC vs #1 Pitt at the Galen Center in a matter of just a few hours. I hope it will be an upset. Go Trojans!

[realm]

Sept 1, 2024 16:23:36 GMT -5 beachnut94 said:

Anyone want to make a line up prediction? I’d guess we are 6-8 weeks from fall season and just started to think about it again.

Just putting pen on paper for fun. Will most likely be completely wrong but would be fun to look back come spring.

1) White/Henson
2) Coakley/Pater
3) Gessner/Truslow
4) Goellner/Thomas
5) Walker/Kok

Plenty more could come off the bench. Also predicting Ally Batenhorst will join in the spring but unsure if she'll crack the lineup.

[burbank55]

Sept 12, 2024 0:27:02 GMT -5 realm said:

Sept 1, 2024 16:23:36 GMT -5 beachnut94 said:

Anyone want to make a line up prediction? I’d guess we are 6-8 weeks from fall season and just started to think about it again.

Just putting pen on paper for fun. Will most likely be completely wrong but would be fun to look back come spring.

1) White/Henson
2) Coakley/Pater
3) Gessner/Truslow
4) Goellner/Thomas
5) Walker/Kok

Plenty more could come off the bench. Also predicting Ally Batenhorst will join in the spring but unsure if she'll crack the lineup.

Very good guesses at the starting pairs.  The players will get to fight for spots over the next 6 months.  Didn’t someone say Ally Batenhorst is as good in Beach as Indoor?  If so, then she’ll likely be a starter.  Ally got second most digs last night against Pitt.

Regarding odds of USC winning it all next year, I’d say 20-30% is a good guess at this point for USC.  TCU has to be over 50%.  UCLA maybe 5-10% and then the field including CalPoly at 5-10%.  

[burbank55]

Mmm, I just took a look at how TCU fared against USC and UCLA last year and am not impressed with their depth.  Alvarez/Moreno provide a great Ones pair, Hamlett/Khmil will be an excellent Twos, but can’t say how the rest of the pairs will compete.  I’ll revise my prediction to say that I now do not see TCU having a better chance than USC to win it all.

TCU posted its 2025 roster, but it doesn’t yet have the transfers, freshmen, or Alvarez/Moreno.  I see Alvarez and Moreno wearing Horned Frog gear on Instagram so we know they are back.
gofrogs.com/sports/womens-beach-volleyball/roster/2025

No. 2 USC def. No. 5 TCU, 5-0
Center of Effort Challenge
Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex · San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Saturday, April 13, 2024
RECORDS: USC (27-3), TCU (25-6)
1. Megan KRAFT/Delaynie MAPLE (USC) def. Hailey HAMLET/Sutton MacTAVISH (TCU); 21-18, 21-13
2. Maddi KRIZ/Madison WHITE (USC) def. Anhelina KHMIL/Ana VERGARA (TCU); 21-15, 21-17
3. Audrey NOURSE/Nicole NOURSE (USC) def. Tara PATTON/Morgan WILLIAMS (TCU); 21-12, 21-13
4. Ashley PATER/Grace SEITS (USC) def. Luana ARACO/Keagan POLK (TCU); 21-9, 21-19
5. Madison GOELLNER/Mabyn THOMAS (USC) def. Olivia CLINES/Emma GLAGAU (TCU); 21-12, 21-17
Order of finish: 3, 1, 4*, 2, 5

No. 1 USC def. No. 4 TCU, 5-0
Death Volley Invitational
Beach Volleyball Stadium · Baton Rouge, La.
Friday, March 29, 2024
RECORDS: USC (19-2), TCU (18-3)
1. Megan KRAFT/Delaynie MAPLE (USC) def. Hailey HAMLETT/Anhelina KHMIL (TCU); 21-14, 21-23, 15-13
2. Maddi KRIZ/Grace SEITS (USC) def. Sutton MacTAVISH/Anete NAMIKE (TCU); 21-15, 21-17
3. Audrey NOURSE/Nicole NOURSE (USC) def. Luana ARACO/Hallie FRIST (TCU); 21-16, 21-14
4. Ashley PATER/Madison WHITE (USC) def. Tara PATTON/Ana VERGARA (TCU); 19-21, 21-19, 15-6
5. Ainsley RADELL/Mabyn THOMAS (USC) def. Olivia CLINES/Morgan WILLIAMS (TCU); 18-21, 21-15, 17-15
Exh. Gabby WALKER/Madison GOELLNER (USC) vs. Kassidy CHUN/Keagan POLK (TCU); 18-21, 21-15
Order of finish: 4, 5, 3*, 2, 1

No. 1 USC def. No. 5 TCU, 4-1
Florida Atlantic Beach Invitational
Pompano Beach Pier · Pompano Beach, Fla.
Saturday, March 16, 2024
RECORDS: USC (16-2), TCU (14-2)
1. Megan KRAFT/Delaynie MAPLE (USC) def. Hailey HAMLETT/Anhelina KHMIL (TCU); 21-19, 18-21, 15-13
2. Sutton MacTAVISH/Alex PARKHURST (TCU) def. Audrey NOURSE/Nicole NOURSE (USC); 28-26, 21-17
3. Maddi KRIZ/Grace SEITS (USC) def. Tara PATTON/Josie SEK (TCU); 21-15, 21-13
4. Ashley PATER/Madison WHITE (USC) def. Anete NAMIKE/Ana VERGARA (TCU); 21-16, 21-12
5. Ainsley RADELL/Mabyn THOMAS (USC) def. Olivia CLINES/Keagan POLK (TCU); 21-10, 21-19
Exh. Madison GOELLNER/Gabby WALKER (USC) def. Luana ARACO/Morgan WILLIAMS (TCU); 21-17, 21-17
Order of finish: 4, 5, 3*, 1, 2

No. 2 UCLA def. No. 4 TCU, 5-0
LSU Beach Volleyball Stadium • Baton Rouge, La.
Friday, March 29, 2024 • 2:30 PM
Records: UCLA (17-4), TCU (18-4)
1. Lexy Denaburg/Maggie Boyd (UCLA) def. Hailey Hamlett/Anhelina Khmil (TCU) 24-22, 21-19
2. Devon Newberry/Peri Brennan (UCLA) def. Sutton MacTavish/Anete Namike (TCU) 21-15, 21-13
3. Kenzie Brower/Jessie Smith (UCLA) def. Ana Vergara/Tara Patton (TCU) 21-12, 21-19
4. Tessa Van Winkle/Jaden Whitmarsh (UCLA) def. Luana Araco/Hallie Corinne Frist (TCU) 21-16, 21-15
5. Natalie Myszkowski/Ensley Alden (UCLA) def. Olivia Clines/Morgan Williams (TCU) 21-18, 21-13
EXH. Reagan Hope/Madeline Bonanni (UCLA) def. Brooke Sheely/Keagan Polk (TCU) 23-21, 21-16
Order of finish: 5, 4, 3*, 2, 1

[vballfanattic]

Sept 12, 2024 13:11:09 GMT -5 burbank55 said:

Mmm, I just took a look at how TCU fared against USC and UCLA last year and am not impressed with their depth.  Alvarez/Moreno provide a great Ones pair, Hamlett/Khmil will be an excellent Twos, but can’t say how the rest of the pairs will compete.  I’ll revise my prediction to say that I now do not see TCU having a better chance than USC to win it all.

TCU posted its 2025 roster, but it doesn’t yet have the transfers, freshmen, or Alvarez/Moreno.  I see Alvarez and Moreno wearing Horned Frog gear on Instagram so we know they are back.
gofrogs.com/sports/womens-beach-volleyball/roster/2025

You're not accounting for Allanis Navas coming in and Maria Gonzalez returning. Navas played at 1s and 2s at GCU. Both gained international experience this past year. I don't know their recruits well but read somewhere that they're getting good incoming freshmen too.

[burbank55]

Sept 12, 2024 14:33:22 GMT -5 vballfanattic said:

Sept 12, 2024 13:11:09 GMT -5 burbank55 said:

Mmm, I just took a look at how TCU fared against USC and UCLA last year and am not impressed with their depth.  Alvarez/Moreno provide a great Ones pair, Hamlett/Khmil will be an excellent Twos, but can’t say how the rest of the pairs will compete.  I’ll revise my prediction to say that I now do not see TCU having a better chance than USC to win it all.

TCU posted its 2025 roster, but it doesn’t yet have the transfers, freshmen, or Alvarez/Moreno.  I see Alvarez and Moreno wearing Horned Frog gear on Instagram so we know they are back.
gofrogs.com/sports/womens-beach-volleyball/roster/2025

You're not accounting for Allanis Navas coming in and Maria Gonzalez returning. Navas played at 1s and 2s at GCU. Both gained international experience this past year. I don't know their recruits well but read somewhere that they're getting good incoming freshmen too.

I did account for Gonzalez and Navas.  Let’s see how much better they are than the 2023 season.  Navas in her career has never won a match against a USC pair.  I believe Gonzalez never has either.

I’m not saying TCU has no chance.  Just that the depth isn’t as strong as I thought.  What would your %s be for national champion in 2025?

[houdini]

TCU also has Latvia's Deniela Konstantinova as a freshman. Their depth will be fine.
She has three European youth medals under her belt already. A good blocker but still developing a more consistent attack.

[moimoi]

What I observe these last few years is that experience can be a major factor in winning the title. USC has been successful in identifying experienced players in transfer portals for the last several years. Combined that with the fact that USC might have one of the best coaches in the country in identifying talents, developing them, strategizing game/ season and instilling mental toughness and maturity etc makes it hard not to consider USCs possiblity to win another title this year.

But I think TCU has great personnel to win it all this year. On paper, they have more experience.

[hbmb10k]

Sept 12, 2024 0:27:02 GMT -5 realm said:

Sept 1, 2024 16:23:36 GMT -5 beachnut94 said:

Anyone want to make a line up prediction? I’d guess we are 6-8 weeks from fall season and just started to think about it again.

Just putting pen on paper for fun. Will most likely be completely wrong but would be fun to look back come spring.

1) White/Henson
2) Coakley/Pater
3) Gessner/Truslow
4) Goellner/Thomas
5) Walker/Kok

Plenty more could come off the bench. Also predicting Ally Batenhorst will join in the spring but unsure if she'll crack the lineup.

With the conventional wisdom on this board I see a great opportunity for the 3rd best team to play 1st court and the best team to play 3rd court. Overrating grad transfers, I've been harping on that for years. Hyping resumes over actual performance. Check. I think we will all be obliviously happy when the  line up comes out, only I"ll think he's sandbagging and most of the posters here will think he's not.