Good morning! February is here which means baseball season is just around the corner. The Trojans are coming off a stellar season where they went 34-23-1, and now, the team heads into the 2024 season with the preseason Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, Caden Aoki!

What else can you find in today's Brew?

🏀 Watkins selected for two national award lists
🥍 Women of Troy come in at No. 1
⚔️ And much, much more!

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🔼 Two More. USC freshman JuJu Watkins is now on two more prestigious national honor rolls with this week's announcement of the Wooden Late Season Top 20 Watch List as well as the additions to the Wade Watch List. Watkins is one of four candidates added to the Wade Watch List, and her upgrade to the Wooden Late Season Top 20 follows her selection as one of 25 on the Midseason Watch List for the John R. Wooden Award. Watkins has already racked up quite the list of accolades including ten Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards, a Naismith Award Watch List selection and the Anne Meyers Drysdale Award candidate.

🔼 Five Set Thriller. USC men’s volleyball reached double-digit blocks for the fifth time this season and recorded a .524 hitting percentage, but the Trojans fell to No. 19 UC San Diego in five sets. Outside hitter Dillon Klein reached double-digit kills for the 26th time in his collegiate career and finished with a team-high 16.5 points. Senior Kyle Paulson racked up eight kills without committing a single error and led the team with five blocks. Up next, the Trojans and Tritons meet again for the back half of the home-and-home series on Friday, Feb. 2, at Galen Center.

🔼 Taking On The Ducks. Boogie Ellis scored 17 points, but it wasn't enough as USC men's basketball fell to Oregon, 78-69, at Galen Center on Thursday night. Oziyah Sellers scored in double-digits for the second straight game with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting for the Trojans. Arrinten Page had eight points and four blocks in his second career start. Joshua Morgan also had four blocks, and Bronny James dished seven assists. USC will wrap up its three-game homestand Saturday against Oregon State before embarking on a Bay Area road trip next week.

🔼 Wrapping Up. USC men's golf concluded its final round at the Southwestern Invitational at North Ranch Country Club finishing in a total of +12 on the day to finish the tournament in a tie for 12^th  place. Wednesday’s final round was led by Gavid Aurilia who battled to finish two-over par on the day. The team now looks ahead to the John A. Burns Intercollegiate that will be played in Lihu’e, Hawaii.

📊 Check out the Trojans’ final scores for the tournament

🔼 Making It Count. The undefeated Trojan men’s tennis team heads into its final home match until the end of the month as they take on UNLV in a rescheduled match. Last week, the Trojans clinched a spot in the ITA National Indoor Team Championships, as they won the ITA Kickoff Weekend Regional with victories over SMU and San Diego. USC will enter the duel as the No. 7 team in the country with three ranked singles and one ranked doubles team.

🔼 First Tournament Action. The top-ranked Women of Troy step into the first tournament of 2024 with a trip to San Diego as the defending champions of the Triton Invitational. USC will start in a group with Concordia, Michigan and UC Santa Barbara on Friday, and from there, will have the semifinals set for Saturday and the championship on Sunday. Last season, the Trojans earned an overtime victory against crosstown rival UCLA to capture the trophy as the No. 2 team in the country.

🔼 Rivalries Renewed. The USC swimming and diving teams are set for their annual clash against the Bay Area rivals this weekend, hosting California on Friday and Stanford on Saturday. The women enter the meet undefeated with a 6-0 record while the men’s team comes in ranked No. 17 sitting at 2-2 on the season. The Trojans will celebrate its 22 seniors ahead of the final home dual of the season with a ceremony.

📚️ Read more about the upcoming dual against the Trojans’ rivals

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Still Competing. USC football has sent player after player to the highest level of the sport, and this offseason, even more Trojans are paving their path to reach the NFL.

Our question today: do you know which three Trojan football players participated in last night’s East-West Shrine Bowl?

Think you got it? Scroll down to the bottom of this email for the answer!

⚔️ ONE BIG THING

Looking to repeat as Pac-12 regular season and conference champions, the Women of Troy were selected to finish first in the preseason coaches poll. USC led all teams in the preseason poll with 48 points, including six first-place votes. Stanford was the only other squad to receive first-place votes. The Trojans enter their final season in the Pac-12 after finishing with a 16-4 record in 2023.

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📅 LOOKING AHEAD

*All times Pacific

Friday, Feb. 2

🤽‍♀️ Women’s Water Polo vs. Concordia University Irvine @ 9:20am in La Jolla, CA

🏊️ Swim and Dive vs. California @ 1:00pm in Los Angeles, CA | Watch 

🏐 Men’s Volleyball vs. UC San Diego @ 7:00pm in Los Angeles, CA | Tickets | Watch | Live Stats

🏀 Women’s Basketball vs. Stanford @ 7:00pm in Stanford, CA | Watch | Live Stats

Saturday, Feb. 3

🎾 Women’s Tennis vs. San Diego @ Noon in San Diego, CA | Live Scoring

🏊️ Swim and Dive vs. Stanford @ 1:00pm in Los Angeles, CA | Watch

🤽‍♀️ Women’s Water Polo vs. TBD in Triton Invitational in San Diego, CA

🎾 Men’s Tennis vs. UNLV @ 1:00pm, in Los Angeles, CA | Watch | Live Stats

🏀 Men’s Basketball vs. Oregon State @ 4:00pm in Los Angeles, CA | Tickets | Watch | Listen | Live Stats

Sunday, Feb. 4

🤽‍♀️ Women’s Water Polo vs. TBD in Triton Invitational in San Diego, CA

⛳️ Women’s Golf @ Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, CA

🏀 Women’s Basketball vs. California @ Noon in Berkeley, CA | Watch | Live Stats

⚔️ Click here to view the full USC Trojan Athletics Calendar

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Tahj Washington, Solomon Byrd and Christian Roland-Wallace!

The three Trojans all competed as teammates on Team West in Frisco, TX.

⚔️ Have a great weekend, everyone!