It is a unique position that USC once again finds itself in for volleyball. The Women of Troy won the final AIAW indoor title in 1980 and the inaugural NCAA indoor championship in 1981.
This year, top-ranked USC (23-2) can repeat that feat outdoors. The Women of Troy won the last AVCA sand championship last May and are looking to claim the inaugural NCAA beach title next month.
“It would be a great opportunity that would bookend the volleyball programs here,” USC coach Anna Collier said. “It will be challenging to get that done. If we can, it adds to the great tradition of USC athletics.”
OUTRIGGER RESORTS ALOHA INVITATIONAL
Queen’s Beach
With No. 1 USC, No. 5 Hawaii, No. 6 Long Beach State, Grand Canyon, Louisiana-Monroe and Washington
Today: Pairs, two rounds, 3:30 p.m.-6:15 p.m.
Friday: Team duals, 9 a.m.-4:15 p.m.; pairs, pool play, 10 a.m.; No. 1 and No. 2 pairs finals, 5:15 p.m.
Saturday: Team duals, 9 a.m.; final rounds, 2:30 p.m. & 3:30 p.m.; Pairs bracket play, 9 a.m., finals TBA.
alohainvitational.com
Since dropping a 3-2 dual to then-No. 4 Florida State that snapped their 19-match home winning streak on March 11, the Women of Troy have won their past 19. Fifteen of those victories have come on the road as USC has criss-crossed the country from Hawaii to Florida to Texas and now, this week, back to Honolulu.
It’s all part of the journey to the national championship, scheduled for May 6-8, at Gulf Shores, Ala.
“You’ve got to play the best to be the best,” said Collier, a former three-sport athlete at USC. “Coming back to Hawaii was another good opportunity to travel and play a tough opponent. Hawaii’s a very good team, believe they’ll qualify (for the NCAA tournament).
“We look forward to playing them this week, we hope in the finals.”
USC is the top seed in the second Outrigger Resorts Aloha Invitational at Queen’s Beach, a three-day event that begins today with a pairs tournament for the Nos. 1 and 2 pairs (the other pairs begin play Friday). The team duals, which includes No. 5 Hawaii (11-6) and No. 6 Long Beach State (9-9), also start Friday.
The second-seeded Rainbow Wahine will compete in the bracketed team duals but not in the pairs tournament due to the NCAA cap on playing days at 16. Hawaii may put in two non-counting duos in the pairs event that concludes Saturday; just as in tennis, a dual win is best-three out of five.
The inaugural NCAA championship will have a team dual format. The previous four AVCA championships also had a pairs portion, which was won last May by USC juniors Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes playing at No. 1.
“Our decision is based on staying in the (NCAA) championship format starting this week,” Hawaii coach Jeff Hall said. “It’s the format for next week’s Big West (tournament) as well and we’re prepping for the national format this week and next.”
All-Americans Claes and Hughes have won 56 straight matches dating back to April 2, 2015, and have only dropped six sets during that run. The two went 44-3 last year and are 31-0 this season, having dropped one set, that coming in the third match of the season against UCLA.
The two first teamed up in high school and played on the USA Volleyball junior beach tour in 2013. They’ve gone on to international success — including two golds at last summer’s NORCECA qualifiers and silver at the 2014 FIVB U21 championship — and likely will be the U.S. top pair at the 2020 Olympics.
“Getting to the 2020 Olympics is one of our goals,” said Hughes, who partnered with Kirby Burnham for the AVCA pairs title in 2014. “But first we want to win that first (NCAA) championship, get our degrees, play professionally.
“It’s been a little hectic with all the travel this year in such a short time span but we need to compete against the best teams. In the long run, if that means getting on the plane, that’s what we’ll do.
“USC has so much athletic tradition and we want to be part of it. If we’re able to do it (win last AVCA and first NCAA titles) that is something that will be talked about for a long time. It will be in the history book.”
Claes and Hughes also won the gold flight of the Hawaii Invitational pairs tournament on March 18 at Queen’s Beach. They also helped USC to the invitational’s team title the next day that included a 3-2 victory over the Rainbow Wahine.
NOTES: Saturday’s team semifinals and finals will be shot by CBS Sports for airing at a later date … No. 10 Florida International originally was going to send a split squad to Honolulu but the Panthers decided to keep their entire team together for this week’s Coastal Collegiate Sports Association tournament.
