May 5, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

THIS WEEK: USC ventures into familiar territory this weekend, as the Women of Troy charge into their fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, revisiting the same site that hosted the Trojans' first NCAA trip and first NCAA title in 2004. Hosting this year's NCAA action is Stanford, where eight teams congregate this weekend for the 2008 NCAA Tournament at Avery Aquatic Center in Palo Alto from May 9-11. Having picked up the No. 3 seed into this weekend's action, USC levels its aim at capturing its third national championship. The Trojans (19-7) will open their NCAA campaign with a first-round face-off against No. 6 seed Michigan (33-9) at 3:15 p.m. on Friday (May 9). A win would put USC into a 5:45 p.m. semifinal on Saturday (May 10). The NCAA title match is set for 6 p.m. on Sunday (May 11) and will be broadcast live by CBS College Sports Network. (Complete NCAA bracket included in this release)

FOLLOW ALONG: If you can't make the trip north to Stanford, you can follow USC's NCAA run on Saturday and Sunday via live audio broadcast by Mike Sondheimer and Dave Marcus. Links to the live audio feeds are available through the women's water polo page at usctrojans.com, or CLICK HERE. On Sunday, the NCAA championship game at 6 p.m. is scheduled to be televised live on CBS College Sports Network.

NCAA SEEDINGS: Receiving automatic bids into the 2008 NCAA action are five teams that clinched an NCAA ticket by virtue of conference championships. MPSF champion UCLA along with Pomona-Pitzer (SCIAC) UC Davis (WWPA), Michigan (CWPA) and Marist (MAAC) are this year's automatic qualifiers, joined by three at-large teams all out of the MPSF -- Stanford, USC and San Diego State. Defending champion UCLA (30-0) is this year's top seed, followed by host No. 2 Stanford (25-4), No. 3 USC (19-7), No. 4 San Diego State (29-6), No. 5 UC Davis (26-8), No. 6 Michigan (33-9), No. 7 Marist (27-7) and No. 8 Pomona-Pitzer (13-8).

NCAA NOTES: USC has won two national championships in program history. The first came in 1999 before the NCAA sponsored women's water polo. In 2004, the Trojans posted the first-ever undefeated season on the way to capturing the 2004 NCAA title. USC has since finished third in 2005 and 2007 and placed second in 2006 in a championship match against UCLA. The first NCAA women's water polo tournament was held in 2001. This year marks USC's fifth consecutive appearance in NCAAs, and fifth overall, as the Trojans hold an 8-3 all-time record in NCAA tournament play.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR: USC was the No. 3 seed in the 2007 NCAA Championships, holding a 20-5 overall record after placing third at the MPSF Tournament. The Trojans opened up against Hartwick in the first round and posted a 20-5 win over the Hawks to move into the semifinals. There, USC faced second-seeded UCLA and ended up with its fourth one-goal loss to the Bruins that year, falling 7-6 to end up in the third-place game at the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans claimed third with a strong 13-6 win over Hawai'i to finish the season with a 22-6 overall mark.

IN THE RANKINGS: After six weeks spent at the No. 3 position, USC's win over Stanford in the MPSF semifinals has lifted the Trojans up to rank No. 2 in the latest national poll.

MPSF RECAP: USC tallied its best finish at the MPSF Tournament since winning the title in 2004 with a trip to the championship game on April 27. The Trojans were the No. 3 seed into the tourney and followed up a 12-6 win over ASU with a 5-4 overtime upset of Stanford in the semifinals. The Cardinal had beaten USC in overtime the previous two games, but the Women of Troy held on for the win, marking the fourth straight one-goal decision between the two squads this season. The overtime win pushed USC into the title match against top-seeded UCLA where another tight battle ensued. Trailing 6-3 at halftime, USC came back with four straight goals to take a 7-6 lead. UCLA was able to work back ahead, however, and secured the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament with an 8-7 win over USC. For their efforts at the MPSF Tournament, sophomore goalie Tumua Anae (32 saves in three games) and senior Veronika Bartunkova (5 goals in three games) were named to the MPSF All-Tournament Team.

HISTORICAL SITE: USC's first trip to the NCAA Tournament carried the Trojans to Stanford back in 2004. Two games later, the Women of Troy had captured their first NCAA championship, finishing off an undefeated season with a 12-4 win over Hartwick in the semifinals and then posting a 10-8 win over LMU in the NCAA title match. Since then, Stanford has played host to annual invitational tournaments during the regular season, and USC has been in the championship game every time, boasting two first-place finishes and three second-place finishes at the 2004-2008 Stanford Invitationals. All told, USC has posted a 17-5 record between tournament and MPSF games at the Stanford pools in the past five years.

STEIN STRIKES AGAIN: Having scored in all but two of USC's games this season, junior Michelle Stein stands as USC's leading scorer on the season with 52 goals after her 15th multiple goal game of the year saw Stein punch in a pair against Arizona State during the MPSF Tournament. She had nine in four games at the UC Irvine Tournament, just a week after scoring seven goals in two games for the Trojans to help USC to a 2-0 start in MPSF play. Stein scored four of USC's final eight goals against UC Irvine and had a hat trick as USC avenged an earlier loss to ASU the next day. Recently, Stein had another seven-goal outing across two games, as USC beat Cal and Pacific on the road. After both those seven-goal weekends, Stein earned her first career honors as the MPSF Mikasa Co-Player of the Week, giving her two selections this season.

BALANCING ACTS: In the previous three seasons, the Trojans have tallied 18 different scorers each year. This year, USC is carrying a smaller roster, and still the Women of Troy have tallied 15 different scorers out of 18 active field players. In game one of 2008, USC made a big early dent in that mark with 10 Trojans scoring in USC's opener against Hartwick on Feb. 2, hinting at another widespread scoring attack from the Trojans in the season to come. The next game proved the point, with another 10-player production to get two more Trojans on the scoring charts this season. To date, USC has hit the 10-scorer mark five times -- last against San Jose State on April 6. USC is third in the MPSF in scoring, averaging 11.17 goals per game.

GETTING DEFENSIVE: The Trojans are just a breath out of the No. 1 slot in the conference's top defensive standings thanks to a strong stand in 2008. Behind a potent tag-team in the cage of goalies Tumua Anae and Whitney Morgan, and arguably the top defensive field players in the game -- Forel Davies and Miranda Nichols -- USC is averaging 5.73 goals against per game. Morgan and Anae also dominate the top of the MPSF in fewest goals allowed with 2.57 and 4.70 goals against per game, respectively.

TUMUA TAKES CONTROL: Sophomore goalie Tumua Anae claimed her first career award from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation on March 3, named the MPSF Mikasa Co-Player of the Week after another strong weekend in the cage. Anae put up big defensive numbers again in the cage for the Trojans, tallying 21 saves in just over six periods of play as USC ballooned its home win streak to 42 straight victories. She hit a career best of 13 saves in four different games this year before topping out with a new career-high 14 in the MPSF championship game on April 27. An MPSF All-Tournament Team and All-MPSF First Team selection, Anae ranks fourth in the conference with 9.09 saves per game.

SENIOR STRIKER: In her final year at Troy, senior Veronika Bartunkova has surpassed her previous best season goal total of 27 from last season. After a career-high five goals against UC Santa Barbara on March 28, Bartunkova punched in four the following day at San Diego State for a nine-goal weekend than earned the senior her first career honor as MPSF Player of the Week. She sits as USC's second leading scorer with 44 goals, having struck in 21 games so far this year, including 12 multiple-goal outings. Bartunkova also earned her first career selections to the MPSF All-Tournament Team and All-MPSF First Team.

FOREL'S FAST: Sophomore Forel Davies has plenty of speed to go along with her defensive prowess and offensive abilities. She won eight of her nine opening sprints at the UC Irvine Invitational, including five straight in USC's semifinal overtime clash with Stanford. She's remained the Trojans' top gun on sprints, and has also tallied a new season high with 20 goals so far this season.

SECOND-YEAR SURGE: USC's sophomores have stepped up in their second seasons of action. Alexandra Kiss and Kally Lucas have scored 32 and 26 goals, respectively, putting Kiss on pace to hit last year's mark of 36 goals while Lucas has already bettered her freshman year total of 15. Kiss led USC in scoring at the MPSF Tournament with six goals, including the game-winner against Stanford in overtime. Fellow sophomores Forel Davies and Tumua Anae are key members of the Trojan defense, as Davies anchors a tough two-meter defense slot and Anae has been huge in the cage as USC's starting goalie.

CAPTAINS LOG: Senior captains Miranda Nichols and Julie Spataru set a high standard for the Trojans. Spataru has doubled her career scoring tally from the start of the season, having bettered her count of 13 goals in her first three seasons with 11 goals this season alone. Nichols stands out as one of the premier defensive players in the game, and also comes with solid offense for USC. She has struck in 10 games -- nine of them multiple-goal outings -- to hold 25 goals this season, upping her career total to 84 in her four seasons at Troy.

HOME POOL ADVANTAGE: After five straight undefeated seasons at McDonald's Swim Stadium, USC's home winning streak stretched out to 42 straight wins before UCLA edged out the Trojans 8-7 on March 14 of this season. UCLA had been the last team to beat USC at home before the streak began, when the Bruins claimed a 7-6 MPSF Semifinal win over the Trojans on April 27, 2002, when USC last hosted the MPSF Tournament. The Trojans went 7-0 at home in 2003, 7-0 in 2004, 8-0 in 2005, 9-0 in 2006 and 7-0 in 2007. USC finished 7-2 at home this season.

WHO'S BACK: Leading the Trojans into the 2008 season are a set of four experienced seniors ¬-- Veronika Bartunkova, Miranda Nichols, Alison Riddle and Julie Spataru -- as well as 2006 All-American goalie Whitney Morgan and 2007 MPSF All-Freshman picks Forel Davies and Alexandra Kiss. Also entering another year of action at Troy are juniors Jordan Anae and Michelle Stein and sophomores Tumua Anae and Kally Lucas.

WHO'S NEW: USC has added a stack of new talent to its 2008 roster, including a set of last year's redshirt players. The Trojans' redshirt freshmen are Tekla Beckmann, Shauna Letvin and Rebecca McCall. And splashing down for their first seasons at Troy as true freshmen are Kristen Dronberger, Katie Indvik, Jessica Kutcher, Stephanie Lavayen, Courtney Ray, Lindsey Urquhart and Sarah Van Norman.

LAST SEASON: In 2007, USC finished third in the NCAA and MPSF tournaments, losing to eventual national champion UCLA by a single goal in the semifinals at both tournaments. The Trojans went 22-6 overall last season and were 10-2 in MPSF action. The Women of Troy also expanded their home win streak to 38 straight games with their fifth consecutive undefeated season at McDonald's Swim Stadium.