Then, Stanford won the third set 25-21 and the fourth set 25-22.
What a great victory!
FIGHT ON, Men's Volleyball!
Trojan Candy arrived early at Heritage Hall for the Women of Troy Basketball Awards Dinner. As soon as friend Jennifer Noriega opened the doors to the Bashor Lounge, I went in to find my assigned table. Then, I started taking pictures as soon as possible.
I found five Managers first. They were Casey Cheng, Addison Lee, Ashley Ford, Matt Kim, and Holly Weldon.
Standing at a front table was freshman point guard Desiree Caldwell. Trojan Candy went up to talk to her about the unbelievable overtime victory on March 3rd that we won. Then, I interviewed Desiree. She is a Freshman from San Antonio majoring in Business Administration. Desiree's favorite foods are Italian pasta and Mexican food. Her hobby is reading. Desiree's favorite author is Joyce Meyers. Her favorite books are motivational ones, such as "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and "Battlefield of the Mind." Desiree likes Disney movies the most and likes R&B music as well as Hip Hop. Her favorite rapper is J. Cole. Then, Desiree told Trojan Candy that her sister Recee Caldwell is a graduate transfer and is currently playing for Cal. So nice to meet you, Desiree and FIGHT ON!
In the front table, Trojan Candy saw Aliyah Mazyck speaking with good friends Mel and Doris Hughes.
Trojan Candy saw Shalexxus Aaron standing alone for just a second. Now it was time to interview her. Shalexxus told me that her favorite food is pasta. For hobbies she loves to dance, and she loves to draw. Shalexxus has two older brothers. Shaddean lives overseas, and Shaqquan plays basketball on the USC Men's team. As for music, Shalexxus likes artists Michael Jackson and Chris Brown the most. She also likes R&B music. Her favorite movie is "Coach Carter." FIGHT ON, Shalexxus! Now Trojan Candy has interviewed both Shaqquan and Shalexxus.
All of the 1988 USC Volleyball National Champions walked into the North Gym and stood by to be introduced.
After losing the first set to Concordia, our men won the next three sets. The scores were 21-25, 25-17, 25-21 and 25-20.
Now, it was time to return to the Bashor Lounge for the post-game reception.
What an absolutely exciting evening! Thank you, Coach Nygaard!
Trojan Candy was very lucky that USC Men's Volleyball Head Coach Jeff Nygaard invited my husband Jim and me to come to a reception before the Men's match with Concordia. He had organized it for USC's 1988 NCAA Men's Volleyball Champions. Trojan Candy came to the Bashor Lounge in Heritage Hall to take pictures and then write a blog article about the famous Trojans.
Jim and I were the first to arrive but after a few minutes three other guests arrived. As soon as we introduced ourselves, Trojan Candy got to work.
The first gentleman whom I interviewed was 1984-1989 men's volleyball assistant coach Mark Beltran. Mark attended USC in 1979 to 1983 and majored in Business and Marketing. He and his wife have a 26 year old daughter who was named "Miss Coaching." Like father, like daughter! Now, Mark is coaching volleyball to 6th grade boys at Wildwood Middle School in Los Angeles and 17 year old girls at Santa Monica. He also is a radio announcer for the current USC Men's Volleyball Team. FIGHT ON, Mark!
Robert attended USC's Medical School in 1972-1976. He also completed his surgical residency at the USC Medical School. Robert is a "die hard Trojan" just like yours truly. FIGHT ON, Robert!
Trojan Candy looked around the room for more players. That's when I saw a gentleman standing by himself momentarily. Now was the time to interview him. The Opposite Setter on the team, Troy Wirth played from 1988 to 1990. He is an entrepreneur who ran his own company from 1987 to 1996. Troy was also a New York Life Insurance agent, following in his father's footsteps. He told me that his mother named him Troy because she liked Troy Donahue. FIGHT ON, Troy!
Standing nearby was Trojan Candy's favorite USC volleyball player ever. I saw him play at USC and then watched him in the Olympics. Bryan Ivie looked down and saw me. I asked if he remembered me at the February 1, 2014, Heritage Hall
Re-opening and Hall of Fame dinner when Jim and I gave him his Heritage Hall medallion. With a big smile, Bryan said that he did remember that night. Trojan Candy couldn't interview Bryan that night, so I did it tonight. Bryan said that he lives in San Francisco now. He sells real estate and still plays volleyball. He plays summer beach volleyball in Manhattan Beach and in Hermosa Beach. However, Bryan said that he is moving back to the Los Angeles area at the end of the year to be nearer to his girlfriend. She lives in Manhattan Beach. So nice to catch up with you Bryan. FIGHT ON, Bryan!
Bryan posed with his coach Bob Yoder and setter Mike Lauterman.
Coach Jeff Nygaard was talking with Celso Kalache.
Trojan Candy saw another familiar face come in with his family. I went up to meet him and found out that he was Lawrence Hom.
I asked if I could interview him and was happy when he said, "Sure." Lawrence majored in Public Administration at USC and earned his MS in Administration from La Verne. He is now an Assistant Vice Principal at Sepulveda Middle School. Lawrence said he and his wife Michele have been married for sixteen years. Michele works at UCLA in Human Performance. They have two children, Brendan and Sarah. Both of them play volleyball. Two future Trojans! Lawrence also told me that he comes from a family of Trojans. Three of his siblings are Trojans as well as aunts, uncles and cousins. FIGHT ON, Lawrence and the entire Hom Family!
As the team dispersed, Trojan Candy noticed that there were two players whom I hadn't taken a picture of yet. Naturally I walked right up to one of them.
Trojan Candy had to rush to get this last picture, because it was time to walk over for the USC match vs. Concordia. I was able to quickly take this picture of Aaron Dyer, Leon Devaney, Bryan Ivie, Tom Duke, Coach Bob Yoder and Mike Lauterman.
With that picture done, my husband Jim and I walked out of the Bashor Lounge with the 1988 National Championship team over to the North Gym.
My next blog article will be about that match. Stay tuned!