USC • USC • USC • USC • USC • USC • USC • USC • USC • USC • USC • USC • University of Southern California 2014 Women’s Water Polo USC Sports Information 3501 Watt Way • Heritage Hall 103 • Los Angeles, CA 90089 Phone: (213) 740-8480 • FAX: (213) 740-7584 Water Polo Sports Information Director: Darcy Couch • email: [email protected] Release #3 — Feb. 20, 2014 No. 1 USC In Action At UCI Invitational This Weekend Women of Troy are looking to win another UCI Invite title. 2014 SCHEDULE/RESULTS THIS WEEK @USCWaterPolo Date Opponent Time/Result The top-ranked USC women’s water polo team carries on its tournament title defense this week as the Triton Invitational Women of Troy look to replicate last year’s run to the UCI Invitational championship. The 2014 Trojans Feb. 8 @Sonoma State W 26-2 carry an 8-0 record into this year’s edition of the tournament, which has USC opening up against CSU @#16 Cal St. Northridge W 13-0 Bakersfield at 8 a.m. on Saturday (Feb. 22) in Irvine. A win there would put the Trojans up against Feb. 9 @#10 Arizona State W 10-4 the winner of that morning’s matchup between No. 8 LMU and No. 10 Cal State Northridge to play @#5 UC Irvine W 8-3 for a spot in Sunday’s semifinals. With a winning first day, the Trojans would line up for a 10:30 a.m. Lancer Invitational semifinal on Sunday (Feb. 23). That afternoon, the tournament championship game is set for 5:15 p.m. Feb. 14 ^Fresno Pacific W 26-2 preceded by a 4 p.m. third-place game. ^Redlands W 24-1 Feb. 15 ^#19 Cal Baptist W 19-6 USC IN THE RANKINGS ^Azusa Pacific W 19-2 USC opened 2014 ranked No. 1 in both the national and MPSF preseason polls. The Trojans haven’t UCI Invitational moved from that top spot in the land as they now enter the fifth week of 2014 competition. Feb. 22 %CSU Bakersfield 8 a.m. %Cal State Northridge/LMU TBD LAST WEEK Feb. 23 %TBD TBD USC posted another big set of wins with its action at the Lancer Invitational last week. The Trojans %TBD TBD pinned up 50 goals on day one, beating Fresno Pacific 26-2 and Redlands 24-1. On the second day of March 1 at Arizona State * 1 p.m. AT play, USC didn’t cool off too much more, taking down No. 19 Cal Baptist 19-6 and then beating Azusa March 7 CSU BAKERSFIELD * 5 p.m. Pacific 19-2. Monica Vavic and Kaleigh Gilchrist were the heaviest single-game hitters, matching each March 15 CALIFORNIA * (P12) 4:30 p.m. other with five goals apiece in USC’s first two wins. Vavic hit four to lead USC against the Lancers the March 21 vs. Indiana ~ 7:30 p.m. HT March 22 vs. Long Beach State ~ 1:30 p.m. HT next day, and sophomore Natalie Lavinksy was the leader against Azusa Pacific with her first career hat at Hawai’i * 6 p.m. HT trick. Vavic would finish the event with a team-high 15 goals, while freshman Ioanna Haralabidis had March 27 HARTWICK 5 p.m. a busy time of it in providing 10 goals for the Trojans. Goalie Flora Bolonyai went the distance in the March 29 at San Jose State * 12 p.m. wins over Fresno Pacific and Cal Baptist, amassing eight and 10 saves, respectively. Alegra Hueso and March 30 at Stanford * (P12) 5 p.m. Melanie Slater would split time in the other two games, with Hueso hauling in a total of eight saves and April 6 UC Irvine (P12) 3 p.m. Slater taking in five to help anchor a stingy Trojan defense. April 10 Loyola Marymount (P12) 4:30 p.m. April 16 UCLA * (P12) 5 p.m. AT THE INVITE MPSF Tournament (hosted by USC) The 2014 UCI Invitational brings in 14 of the nation’s top-18 ranked teams for action in the 16-team April 25 &TBD TBD field for one of the most competitive early-season tournaments of the year. No. 5-ranked host UC April 26 &TBD TBD Irvine will be joined by No. 1 USC, No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 California, No. 6 Hawai’i, No. 7 April 27 &TBD TBD Arizona State, No. 8 LMU, No. 10 Cal State Northridge, No. 11 San Jose State, No. 13 UC San Diego, NCAA Tournament (hosted by USC) No. 14 UC Davis, No. 16 UC Santa Barbara, No. 18 San Diego State and unranked CSU Bakersfield and May 9 $TBD TBD Pacific. The Trojans stand as the defending champs after their 13-10 win over the Cardinal in last year’s May 10 $TBD TBD title match. May 11 $TBD TBD Home games in BOLD CAPS (at Uytengsu Aquatics Center) THIS TIME LAST YEAR * MPSF game ~ game played in Honolulu @ Triton Invitational (hosted by UC San Diego) USC turned heads in 2013 in taking a commanding run to the UCI Invitational championship last year. ^ Lancer Invitational (hosted by Cal Baptist) After well-balanced wins over Pacific and San Diego State on the first day of action, the Trojans edged % UCI Invitational (hosted by UC Irvine) out rival UCLA 11-10 in the semifinals to earn their place in the title match. Up against top-ranked & MPSF Tourn. (Uytengsu Aquatic Center) $ NCAA Champs (Uytengsu Aquatic Center) Stanford in the final, USC pounded out a 13-10 upset win over the Cardinal to capture the champi- (P-12) = televised by Pac-12 Networks onship and set in motion the Trojans’ takeover of the No. 1 ranking in the nation. USC opened the tourney with 10 different scorers in on the action in both Trojan victories. The well-balanced Trojan 2014 Women’s Collegiate Top-10 attack and stingy USC defense paired up well for a 14-2 win over Pacific and then a 17-5 victory over (Week 5 • Feb. 19) San Diego State to push USC through to the next day’s semifinal round. Up against the Bruins in the Rank School Previous Rank Points 1. USC 1 100 semis, USC got the last word in a see-saw battle with No. 3 UCLA. Kaleigh Gilchrist blasted one through 2. Stanford 2 95 with 2 seconds left, and USC held on for the 11-10 victory that put the Trojans into a championship 3. UCLA 3 90 bout with top-ranked Stanford. USC freshman Anni Espar recorded her first hat trick as a Trojan to lead 4. California 4 85 USC’s scoring attack against UCLA. Her second of the day got USC a tight 8-7 lead near the close of 5. UC Irvine 5 80 the third frame, but the game would stay neck-and-neck. The Bruins were awarded a 5-meter penalty 6. Hawaii 6 74 shot to open the fourth, converting for the 8-8 tie. Espar again got USC the go-ahead with her third 7. Arizona State 7 71 strike making it 9-8. Again, UCLA would draw even, answering that Espar goal and then a Monica Vavic 8. Loyola Marymount 9 63 score on a 6-on-5. Locked up 10-10, USC’s Gilchrist plugged in what would stand as the winner. Her 9. Princeton 8 61 10. Cal StateNorthridge 10 54 — more — 2014 UNIVersiTY OF SOUThern CALIFOrnia WOMEN’S WATER POLO bullet with 2 ticks to go proved the difference, and 10-save effort in a 10-4 win over No. 10 Arizona State the Women of Troy were through to the title match. for a ticket to the final. In the title match, Bolonyai USC packed some championship punch in a resound- opened the day with a save against a UC Irvine 5-me- 2014 AWARDS ing 13-10 takedown of top-ranked Stanford. USC and ter penalty shot, and she’d finish with 11 saves in the Stanford would stand locked at 8-8 before the Trojans 8-3 championship win. Bolonyai started the winning MPSF Player of the Week: rammed home three straight scores on goals from weekend with a couple saves and no goals allowed Flora Bolonyai (Feb. 10) Kelly Mendoza, Hannah Buckling and Monica Vavic to in one period of work in an opening 25-2 win over go up 11-8. The Cardinal trimmed the USC lead down Sonoma State. In all, Bolonyai finished the weekend to one, but some rock-hard USC defense anchored by with 33 saves and seven goals allowed while USC a stingy USC goalie Flora Bolonyai in the cage paired opened the year at 4-0 with the victorious trip to San Career Scoring Leaders with goals from Anni Espar and Vavic to secure the Diego. This is Bolonyai’s second career pick as MPSF 1. Aniko Pelle ............... 1999-02 ..........255 championship win for the Trojans. Espar would fin- Player of the Week, following a 2012 selection and 2. Sofia Konoukh .......... 2001-03 ..........224 ish with a game-high four goals for the Trojans, with going along with a set of three Newcomer of the 3. Moriah Van Norman ... 2003-06 ..........215 Vavic and Buckling adding a hat trick apiece to charge Week selections from her freshman season in 2011. up the USC offense for the win. Bolonyai also hauled 4. Nina Wengst ............ 1999-02 ..........213 in nine saves in the win, including a 5-meter penalty WORLD WARRIORS 5. Brittany Hayes .......... 2004-07 ..........209 stop in the fourth period of play to bring home vic- The 2014 Trojans return five starters from the last na- 6.