College beach: East Meets West recap; USC’s Blanton dishes high-flying Trojans, AVP TV
When East met West in college beach volleyball last weekend, three teams in particular — USC, Florida State and UCLA — solidified their stocks with the NCAA selection committee.
Coach Dain Blanton and All-American Megan Kraft discuss the Women of Troy’s road to a potential third consecutive national title.
The weekend ahead is detailed, as well as an honor roll of conference pairs of the week. We wrap up with some perspective by longtime analyst Blanton on the significance of AVP TV moving to the ESPN family.
Picture clears after East Meets West
Two-time defending NCAA champion USC emerged unscathed as the pivotal East Meets Invitational last weekend provided clarity coming down the home stretch of the collegiate beach season.
Two other storied programs that figure to play significant roles in four weeks in the single-elimination NCAA Championship — Florida State and UCLA — walked off the sand at Manhattan Beach, California, with minor wounds but with heads held high and confidences bolstered.
The four West teams were 11-5 against East squads in the two-day crossover competition. USC went 4-0, FSU and UCLA 3-1, Loyola Marymount and Hawaii 2-2, LSU and Georgia State 1-3, and Florida International 0-4. How close were the duals among the top three? The Women of Troy topped Florida State 3-2 with four of the matches needing three sets. FSU beat the Bruins 3-2, with two of the Seminoles’ match victories going to deciding sets.
The air-tight nature of these duals harkened back to the 2022 NCAA Championship, when USC defeated Florida State in the title tussle after the Seminoles had ousted UCLA 3-2 in the semifinal. It should give the NCAA selection committee keen perspectives regarding the slotting for potential seeds in the 17-team draw for the nationals May 3-7 in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
The Seminoles (24-3), who climbed a spot to No. 3 in this week’s AVCA Poll, will jump right back into the firing line, hosting their Unconquered Invitational on Friday and Saturday. No. 5 Louisiana State (18-8) and No. 7 Loyola Marymount (18-3) will be in Tallahassee, as will No. 15 Florida Atlantic (12-8) and Southern Mississippi (15-13). CCSA rivals FSU and LSU already have played twice, with the Seminoles winning each 3-2.
Florida State coach Brooke Niles had this takeaway from the East Meets West: “I loved our team’s grit and fight the whole weekend. With traveling across the country and being in a different environment, there were times we didn’t play our best volleyball, but we still competed and I’m so proud of that.”
In the nail-biter with USC, “We saw some things that we need to improve on,” Niles added, “but that match could have gone either way. It’s about making small adjustments on our side of the net and we are excited to get to work on some of those things this week.”
Meanwhile, the Women of Troy (17-1) jumped from third to No. 2 in the ranking, even picking up a first-place vote, and UCLA (22-2) dropped from second to No. 4. Both will compete in the Pac-12 North Invitational at Stanford on Friday and Saturday. All nine of the conference’s beach programs will be in action with 18 duals (nine on each day) at multiple locations and each team will play in four.
The lineup includes No. 9 California (18-5), the host 10-ranked Cardinal (19-6), Washington (12-10, tied for 13th in the poll). Arizona (16-4 and one vote short of the AVCA Top 20), Arizona State (7-7), Oregon (7-15) and Utah (6-16). USC’s duals will be against Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon and Utah. UCLA is in much tougher: Cal, Stanford, Washington and Arizona. Pac-12 Networks will air some of the duals live from Stanford.
Blanton: A players’ coach
A three-peat for the powerhouse Women of Troy hardly would be a shock, but racking up national titles on the beach isn’t coach Dain Blanton’s only priority.
What his highly skilled and superbly trained beach athletes accomplish outside of the USC fold is equally important to Blanton, whose distinguished playing career featured winning a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics with Eric Fonoimoana and representing the USA again in the 2004 Athens Games with Jeff Nygaard.
His dedication to his players’ long-term development goes so far as giving his blessing to a move that found his team without an All-American player, Megan Kraft, during its only loss, a 4-1 defeat to No. 1 TCU in mid-March.
“In terms of our lineup, our biggest goal is to create these athletes who fulfill their potential, whether it be just to play in college, whether it be to go play on the AVP pro circuit or whether it be to go to the Olympics and play for your country,” Blanton said. “Last year, we had Tina Graudina from Latvia, a very strong international player, so I gave her some leeway to play in international events even though it overlapped with our season.
“Players who come to SC know that I was a player myself and I have a player’s mindset. I want the players to fully realize their potential. I don’t want to limit them. We actually allowed Megan Kraft to go down to Mexico to play in international FIVB events.”
Which was same weekend USC played in Miami Beach against TCU.
In hindsight, Coach, was that a smart decision?
“Absolutely,” Blanton said, with zero hesitation. “You calculate your risks and you want to make your players happy. If someone’s trying to pursue Paris in ’24, I want to try to help them as much as possible, while at the same time protecting the team. We made a calculated decision as a coaching staff to allow Megan to go. Frequently, in those circumstances, players will step up. Two years ago, when Tina needed to leave, we were playing against UCLA, and that’s a heated rivalry, but we were able to actually win the dual when Tina was gone.
“Obviously, you don’t want [players missing duals] to happen a lot, but in certain times of the season, we are OK with that. It mixes up the lineup a little bit. It kind of makes it fresh, as well. I’m a true believer that if you switch it up, you see some things you don’t normally see when they’re in their comfort zone. Everybody gets a little uncomfortable, the athletes have to play in different roles, and that’s a win-win for our team.”
Blanton was quick to give the Horned Frogs their due, while pointing out that an early season setback might not be likely to have a residual effect.
“In no means do I think with that TCU match that our lineup was a big deal,” he said. “They beat us that day straight out. [A loss] might serve us well. Last year we were trying to repeat as national champions and everyone expected us to do well. Anything less than that would have been looked at as coming up short. We had an early loss [to UCLA, in the second dual of the season] and it took the edge off. You never want to be in that situation when you’re afraid to lose. There’s no trophy for going undefeated.”
At the tender age of 20 and a college junior, the 6-foot Kraft already has served notice at the international and AVP levels. She and USC teammate Delaynie Maple were the gold medalists in the FIVB Under-19 World Championships in December of 2021. Kraft won third-tier Future events on the world tour in 2022 with Savvy Simo and Emily Stockman, and twice was a semifinalist with Stockman at the second-tier Challenge level.
Last season in four AVPs, Kraft and Stockman made the semifinals in New Orleans and finished fifth in the Manhattan Beach Open. During the Spring Break Mexican trip, Megan and Emily were ninth in the La Paz Challenge on March 16-19 and 17th the next week in the Tepic Elite16.
She expressed her gratitude to Blanton, assistant coach Gustavo Rocha and her teammates for being “supportive of me going to play [in Mexico] when they were in Miami.”
“When I decided what international tournaments I was going to play, back when the international schedule came out, we didn’t quite know what our USC was going to look like,” Kraft said. “I definitely was bummed to miss that game [against TCU] but the team did great taking the rest of the three matches against solid Florida teams as well. I’ll be excited if we get the opportunity to play TCU again.”
Until the college season ends, Kraft’s focus squarely is on the Women of Troy.
“The season is ramping up over the next few weeks and I am with USC through nationals,” she said. “In the summer there will be different Challenge events and Elite events. [She and Stockman] are going to play as much as we can, try to qualify for the Elites and, hopefully, do well in the Challenges to keep our points in a good spot. Any AVPs that don’t overlap with important FIVB tournaments, we’ll definitely try to play those as well. We’re hoping to play Manhattan, Hermosa, all of the local [California] ones, for sure, and then what other [tour stops] that don’t coincide with FIVBs.”
Kraft noted that much of the Women of Troy’s success can be attributed to immediate contributions by freshmen such as 5-foot-10 Arizonan Madison White, 5-11 Texan Gabby Walker and 6-2 Californian Delaney Karl. USC has demonstrated a knack for winning close matches, with eight of their 17 victories coming by 3-2 scores.
“Our team is very new,” Kraft said. “We lost a lot of grad students and seniors who made up a big chunk of our team, but the freshmen have come in and really made an impact. Then we’ve had a few transfers, grad transfers as well, who have made a huge impact. Everybody’s been fighting for each other and it’s been really cool to see everyone buy into our culture. The challenge for [the veterans] has been to pass that culture down to a new team. As people who have been part of the team that have won national championships, we’re just trying to be the best leaders we can be for the freshmen and transfers. Everyone has been super-willing to listen and to change.
“The freshmen have made huge impacts, Madison White especially, but also Gabby Walker and Delaney Karl. Even the ones who aren’t playing are going super-hard in practice, getting better every day, pushing the limit and making the lineup better as a whole. When we push each other in practice, we get better as a team.”
Blanton pointed out with pride that USC’s beach program has spawned a who’s who among American pro women, without even mentioning Latvian national Graudina, who finished fourth in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and is half of the reigning European champions.
“A beauty of our program is that we have had so many athletes be successful in the professional ranks,” Blanton said. “There could easily be times in the AVP when in the quarterfinals, seven players could be Trojans. You’re talking about Sara Hughes, Kelly Claes [now Cheng], Terese Cannon, Julia Scoles, Megan Kraft, Hailey Harward, Geena Urango. To see Geena Urango win her first tournament [at age 33] last year with Julia Scoles [in Atlanta], also a Trojan, was awesome. To see Hailey Harward and Tina Graudina win in Fort Lauderdale was amazing. And now we are seeing Kelly and Sara come back together, so I’m really proud of what they have gone on to do, and I’m really excited to see what they do come Paris in 2024.”
Turning the page back to the present 2023 season, Blanton said that the new all-single-elimination NCAAs will be “great for the sport because it makes a lot more sense to the average sports fan” and will create a greater sense of urgency among the teams.
“Single-elimination will make a massive difference,” said Blanton, who has been a part of five national champions at USC, three as an assistant to legendary Anna Collier, all using double-elimination or a hybrid format with double-elimination after the first round. “I was on the NCAA committee when the proposal came up for a vote. I thought it was time that beach volleyball moved into the single-elimination format. I would like to see it at the professional level as well [on the AVP].
“I love that it’s going to be single-elimination. It’s a lot of pressure and a lot of excitement. We saw last year when we made that first round on Wednesday single-elim, there were a few upsets and a few really close calls, whereas you’re thinking [in double-elimination] that you could lose that first match and come back in the consolation bracket, then it’s just a different mind frame. You’ve got to be ready to go right out of the gate.”
Elsewhere on the schedule …
Coming off four 5-0 whitewashes in the North Florida Invite — three against teams ranked in the lower quarter of this week’s AVCA poll — undefeated and top-ranked TCU (24-0) will host a five-team meet this weekend. Also in Fort Worth on Friday and Saturday will be Florida Gulf Coast, Houston Christian, UTEP and Southland Conference regular-season champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which went 3-0 in its Islander Classic last weekend.
No. 11 Georgia State will welcome No. 16 South Carolina, No. 20 Stetson, UAB and UT Martin to Atlanta to its Diggin’ Duals round-robin Friday and Saturday. The host Sandy Panthers were under .500 in the loaded East Meets West last weekend, but their top pair of identical twins Angel and Bella Ferary picked up noteworthy three-set victories in matches with the crack 1s duos from USC and UCLA.
On the East Coast, North Florida moved into the No. 19 spot in the AVCA rankings after victories in its invitational over ranked foes Stetson and Pepperdine. Next up for the Jacksonville school is its Osprey Invitational on Friday and Saturday. Also in the field are Florida International (tied for 13th in the poll), Mercer, Saint Leo, UNC-Wilmington. College of Charleston puts its seven-match winning streak on the line in a five-team invitational Friday and Saturday that includes host Coastal Carolina (17-8), Erskine, Tampa and Southeastern Louisiana.
On the West Coast, No. 12 Long Beach State holds a tri-meet Thursday with No. 18 Pepperdine and Cal State Los Angeles. Pepperdine then will host a tri Saturday in Malibu with CSUN and Life Pacific. A couple of teams will flip between competitions on Friday and Saturday at Sacramento State and UC Davis. Pacific, Santa Clara and Concordia Irvine will join Sacramento State on Friday, while San Francisco, Saint Mary’s and Liberty will play the host Hornets on Saturday. Liberty will be at UC Davis on Friday, along with the host Aggies and Boise State (18-5). Santa Clara then will play with Boise State and Davis on Saturday.
Also, Louisiana-Monroe (22-2), which dropped a dual to UAB last weekend, will hold its ULM Invitational on Friday and Saturday. It includes Spring Hill, Stephen F. Austin, Central Arkansas and Hendrix.
Weekly honor roll
Conference pairs of the week included USC’s Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse, Pac-12; Florida State’s Anna Long and Jordan Polo, CCSA; Kaylee Glagau and Brooke Van Sickle of Hawaii, Big West (in back-to-back weeks, for the third time in 2023, and the seventh time in their careers); Tulane’s Mollie Ebertin and Kendall Peters, Conference-USA (for the second time in this season) Bri Haggerty and Ashley Thompson of UNC-Wilmington, Sun Belt; Chantel McMillan and Hayden Wooldridge of North Florida, Atlantic Sun; Houston Christian’s Maddie Butters and Alison Stanfill, Southland; and Trinity Miller and Sydney Wyman of Morehead State, Ohio Valley.
Blanton weighs on on AVP TV
During the interview with Dain Blanton, we asked the USC beach coach to put on his TV analyst’s cap and talk a bit about the AVP’s rekindled association with ESPN. The last four regular-season Pro and Gold Series events and the AVP Championships will be televised live on ESPNU or ESPNews.
“It’s fantastic that the AVP is on the ESPN family,” said Blanton, who does color commentary for the AVP on shows produced in-house by Echo Entertainment. “They are working out some of the details of the streaming and whatnot. But to get the television linear product back on live television is going to be awesome. Some will be on a delayed basis, but all of the big tournaments will be on live. To be on [an ESPN channel] is where you want to be. If you are dealing with any of the majors, right, such as NBC, ABC, CBS or ESPN, your ‘reach’ is so big.
“The AVP has an amazing history with NBC and they were great partners with the AVP for so long. I love to see the exposure for the tour whatever direction it goes, and I’ve been fortunate enough to commentate on it for the last 15 years since I retired. Yes, I’m fired up. I hope that all the details get worked out, and remember, when we have beach volleyball showcased every four years in the Olympics, I know that NBC does a fantastic job.
“Beach volleyball in the Olympics has been elevated to that tier-one status because of its popularity [in the ratings]. I just hope that the powers that be out there can elevate the sport to where it should be.”
Blanton also offered a candid assessment of the AVP and its prize money structure. Dain noted that when he became the first Black athlete to win an AVP tournament, teaming with Canyon Ceman to take the title in the 1997 Hermosa Beach Grand Slam, “Canyon and I split $60,000.” In 2022, the top money-earner on the AVP (Taylor Crabb) picked up $52,900 for the season.
“The growth opportunity for beach volleyball is still here,” Blanton opined. “It’s been an up-and-down journey for the AVP from when I used to go down to the beach to get a good seat in the 1980s, to playing [on the tour] all the way to 2010 to now. You want [beach volleyball] to be a professional sport for as many people as possible, but when [the tour] is trying to get things done, sometimes they don’t happen as quickly as you would like.
“I feel for the players trying to make a living. They’ve got to be pretty savvy now, and sometimes use the platform to have possible bigger gains [in income] outside of it. If [an athlete] is not savvy, and not using the platform, it can be a tough financial situation.”
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