Good morning! Former Trojan Andrew Vorhees tore his ACL during the NFL Combine, but never gave up on his NFL dream. In the seventh round, the Ravens selected him with the 229th pick, despite the injury. Vorhees’ resiliency is something we should all look to imitate as we head into the start of the week!

What all can you find in today's Brew?

🎾 One For The Ages
🏈 Going Pro
⚔️ And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Made A Splash. For the first time all season, the Trojans were held to single digit points and suffered a loss in the MPSF Championship game. USC came out cold, and after getting down to a 5-1 deficit, there was little room for a comeback.

The Trojans cut the lead to three on three separate occasions with Tilly Kearns putting in a couple from close range. Paige Hauschild tossed in her second of the game to cut the game to a 7-4 deficit at halftime. After resuming, Stanford put up a five goal lead, and was ultimately too much in a short amount of time.

USC now awaits the announcement of the NCAA Tournament field tomorrow where they expect to receive an at-large bid. The true postseason starts now, and the Trojans are hungry to make a splash come tournament time.

🔼 One For The Ages. The six seeded Trojans gave us all something to remember as the Women of Troy made it to the Pac-12 title match for the first time in tournament history.

After having defeated both the three and two seeds, USC had placed itself into serious contention to win the whole darn thing. In the finals match, the Trojans faced off against Stanford, the number eight team in the nation. Doubles team Grace Piper and Maddy Sieg secured the first point of the day, but it would be the only win of the match for the Trojans. It was indeed a run that this program won’t soon forget.

Having played so well in the Pac-12 tournament, the Trojans will now turn their attention to the Women’s DI NCAA selection show today at 3:00pm to see if their names will be called.

🔼 Fight ‘Til The End. USC finished the season off strong at the Pac-12 Championships at Stanford Golf Course. In their final round, the Trojans shot the fourth best round of the day at nine over-par.

Freshman Mahanth Chirravuri was the low man of the team and finished the tournament at even par, including two rounds in the 60’s. Jackson Rivera and Jack Boulger rounded out the Trojan’s top-three players, finishing the tournament at four and five over-par respectively. The team placed 10th overall after four rounds, and showed improvement over the course of the weekend.

A season well done, the Trojans head into the off-season to grind it out and prepare for next season’s team. Both Chirravuri and Rivera will re-join the team next year, as well as Krando Nishiba, Gavin Aurilia, and Parker Sisk.

🔼 Going Pro. From Saturdays to Sundays; three more Trojans were selected in the NFL Draft this past weekend.

Tuli Tuipulotu was picked in the second round of the draft and is staying in Los Angeles as a Charger. The defensive lineman picked up 116 total tackles, 13.5 sacks, and a touchdown in his USC career. The 2022 first-team All-American will look to make an immediate impact with LA.

Mekhi Blackmon was picked in the third round with the 102nd overall pick by the Minnesota Vikings. The defensive back, in his one season with USC, earned Pac-12 first team honors, and started all 14 games for the Trojans. Blackmon joins wide receiver Jordan Addison, who was selected by Minnesota in the first round.

Andrew Vorhees, as we mentioned at the top, was given a chance to shine despite his injuries as the 229th overall pick to the Baltimore Ravens. Throughout his career, Vorhees made 48 starts and earned AP All-American first team and All-Pac 12 first team in 2022. He now goes from blocking for a Heisman winner to a former MVP and highest paid player in the league, Lamar Jackson.

🔼 Battle of LA. How’s this celebration for a Monday morning? It’s only the feeling of beating the Bruins, and USC did just that in the USC & UCLA Dual Meet this weekend.

🐸 Jumpers. Elias Gerald started things off strong for the Trojans. He won the men’s high jump with a 6’10.75” jump and got up acting like he’d done something as simple as getting the mail. In the women’s side, USC went 1-2-3 in the long jump with Temi Ojora winning the event with a jump of 20’3”. Lauren Reed and Allie Jones finished behind her to round out the top three for the Trojans.

💨 Runners. USC took both 4×100 relays with the women’s team running theirs in 43.13 and the men in 39.38. Talk about running, these athletes were flying. Both the men and women swept the podium again in the 200 meter race, with Ashton Allen taking first for the men with a time of 20.88 and Caisja Chandler getting the gold with a time of 22.80.

💪 The Field. Nikolaos Polychroniou won the men’s hammer throw event with a personal record of 238’1’ and moved into sixth all-time in the USC record books. That man was throwing throwing. Following that up was Karlee Freeman who set her own personal record in the shot put with a throw of 53’11”, giving her the silver in the event.

USC now heads into postseason play beginning later this month with the Pac-12 Championships at Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, CA.

🤔 TROJAN TRIVIA

Historically Great. The Trojans sent four more players to the NFL in this past weekend’s draft. Turning pro is a dream of all young football players, and USC is among the best at producing pro-level talent.

Our question today—do you know how many total Trojans have been drafted into the NFL?

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

⚔️ ONE BIG THING

The four-peat is officially official! The No. 1 seed headed into the Pac-12 Conference Championships ran the table to secure the title for the fourth season in a row.

In the final round, USC faced off against the No. 2 seeded Utah Utes for their shot at the crown. USC conceded the doubles point, but came back incredibly strong in singles play with three straight victories. Wajtek Marek defeated his opponent for the fourth and final point of the match, securing the Trojans the victory in straight sets.

The quote of the tournament came from head coach Brett Masi, “We did an awesome job today…that is what I am most proud about.” After a much deserved celebration, USC will prepare for the NCAA tournament later this month.

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📅 THE DAY AHEAD

Monday 5/1

No scheduled events

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: 523!

USC ranks second among all universities in NFL draftees, only behind Notre Dame. It seems to me there might be a few more joining them come this time next year.

Have a great Monday, everyone!