The No. 1-ranked USC beach volleyball team (1-1) lost to No. 7 Loyola Marymount (2-0) 4-1 at the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic on Queen’s Beach on Thursday, Feb. 20.
This marks the Trojans’ first loss of the season, breaking a seven-match win streak that had been going since the end of the 2024 season. It is also the first-ever loss to LMU in the 32-meet history of the head-to-head series, which now stands at 31-1 in favor of USC. The loss also drops USC’s all-time record in Hawaii to 28-5, and the Trojans fall to 156-19 when ranked No. 1 in the AVCA poll.
USC’s only point came from the No. 4 pair, where sophomore Madison Goellner and graduate Ella Larkin fought hard for a three-set victory, defeating Magdalena Rabitsch and Isabelle Reffel 17-21, 21-16, 15-8. This was the only match to go three sets, as LMU won the first set on all five courts.
LMU dominated the match with straight-set wins across the other four positions. At the No. 3 spot, Lisa Luini and Abbey Thorup took down USC’s freshman Kennedy Coakley and sophomore Ashley Pater, 21-19, 21-16. At the top spot, Vilhelmiina Prihti and Michelle Shaffer gave LMU its second point with a 21-15, 21-17 victory over Trojan juniors Mabyn Thomas and Madison White.
LMU sealed the win with a 21-16, 22-20 victory at court five from Giuliana Poletti Corrales and Tanon Rosenthal, who beat USC’s junior Delaney Karl and sophomore Kaileigh Truslow. The Lions’ fourth point came at court two, where Chloe Hooker and Anna Pelloia won 21-19, 21-15 over USC’s graduate Maya Gessner and sophomore Zoey Henson.
Next, USC will face No. 5 Stanford (0-2) and No. 11 Arizona State (1-1) on Friday, Feb. 21, before taking on No. 3 UCLA (2-0) and No. 2 TCU (1-1) on Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Duke Kahanamoku Classic.
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