April 12, 2008

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The No. 3 USC women's water polo team tallied an important MPSF win over No. 4 Hawai'i on Saturday evening, overpowering the Rainbow Wahine with a 13-8 victory at McDonald's Swim Stadium. The Trojans were led by big games from junior Michelle Stein and freshman Sarah Van Norman. Stein knocked in four goals and Van Norman had a career-high three to help power USC to victory. USC improves to 16-6 overall and 9-2 in MPSF play.

The Women of Troy shut out the Rainbow Wahine in the first period of play, while USC punched in three goals. By halftime, USC was up 6-2, and the Trojans went even bigger in the third on a five-goal effort that ballooned USC's lead to 11-4 as the teams entered the final period of action.

While Michelle Stein was racking up a four-goal game for herself, freshman Sarah Van Norman had her first career hat trick. The rest of USC's scoring was spread between six other Trojans. Seniors Miranda Nichols and Veronika Bartunkova each scored in their final home game, while goalie Whitney Morgan came in and tallied four saves for the Women of Troy. Starting goalie Tumua Anae had eight saves.

USC has one remaining MPSF regular-season match left this season, a 12 p.m. game at Long Beach State set for next Sunday (April 20).

#3 USC 13, #4 Hawai'i 8
UH 0 - 2 - 2 - 4 = 8
USC 3 - 3 - 5 - 2 = 13

SCORING:
USC - Michelle Stein 4, Sarah Van Norman 3, Miranda Nichols, Veronika Bartunkova, Kally Lucas, Alexandra Kiss, Jordan Anae, Jessica Kutcher.
UH - Lisa van Raalte 2, Kelly Mason 2, Carmen Eggens 2, Angela Turnbell, Samantha Motekaitis.
SAVES: Tumua Anae (USC) 8, Whitney Morgan (USC) 4, Sarah Gralitzer (UH) 6.