University Southern California Trojans
Women of Troy Into Semifinals of National Championships
June 21, 1999 | Women's Water Polo
May 7, 1999
SUISUN, Calif. - The No. 1 USC women's water polo team marched into the semifinals of the 1999 National Collegiate Championships with a pair of victories on Friday at Solano College. The Women of Troy defeated 16th-seeded Indiana, 17-2, in the first round, and then beat eighth-seeded UC Santa Barbara, 6-3, in the quarterfinals.
USC (28-2) will next meet either UCLA or Hawaii on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. at UC Davis' Hickey Pool.
Freshman 2M Nina Wengst and freshman UT Aniko Pelle each scored two goals as the Women of Troy defeated UC Santa Barbara (16-16) in a hard-fought defensive game. The Gauchos held a 2-1 lead after one period, but USC scored the next three goals, including a go-ahead penalty shot by freshman driver Christine Zador, to take a 4-2 advantage.
The Women of Troy held on to a 4-3 lead entering the final period, and goals by Wengst and Pelle sealed the win.
"Our games with UC Santa Barbara are always close," USC Coach Jovan Vavic said. "We knew it was going to be tough. There were some early opportunities that we didn't convert. Our goalie, Bernice Orwig, played a great game as usual."
In the first-round game, 10 different players scored as USC routed Indiana (21-15) and set season highs for goals and margin of victory.
The Women of Troy jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the second quarter. Sophomore 2M Jennifer Durley and junior UT Lisa Saenz each scored two of their game-high three goals during the run.
USC had a shutout going until three seconds left in the second quarter. After the Hoosiers (21-15) made it 11-2 in the third period, the Women of Troy scored the game's final six goals.
IU 0-1-1-0 --- 2
USC 3-7-4-3 --- 17
USC Goals: Jennifer Durley 3, Lisa Saenz 3, Suzannah Johnson 2, Aniko Pelle 2, Christine Zador 2, Jennifer Carlisle 1, Shelli Linza 1, Sandra Milicev 1, Kory O'Rourke 1, Nina Wengst 1.
IU Goals: Kristin Carpenter 1, Mary Lesniak 1.
Goalie Saves: Bernice Orwig (USC) 4, Marin Pietrzak (USC) 2; Indiana 5.
UCSB 2-0-1-0 --- 3
USC 1-2-1-2 --- 6
USC Goals: Aniko Pelle 2, Nina Wengst 2, Sandra Milicev 1, Christine Zador 1.
UCSB Goals: Mary Blumberg 1, Nicole Comacho 1, Lynn Nisbet 1.
Goalie Saves: Bernice Orwig (USC) 7; UC Santa Barbara 6.
