University Southern California Trojans
USC Athletics Off To Amazing Start in 2000
September 25, 2000 | USC Athletics
Sept. 25, 2000
LOS ANGELES - In what in all likelihood is the best combined athletic start in school history, USC's four fall sports - football, women's volleyball, women's soccer and men's water polo - are a combined 27-1 and are all ranked in the Top 10.
Add to that the fact that two of the teams - women's volleyball and men's water polo - are ranked No. 1 and that the lone loss was a double-overtime heartbreaker suffered by the women's soccer team and the numbers are even more impressive.
USC's early success in football is the obvious one. The Trojans, under third-year coach Paul Hackett, are 3-0 and ranked No. 7 by USA Today/ESPN and No. 8 by AP. USC, which has won six games in a row dating back to last year, will look to stay perfect at Oregon State on Saturday in a game to be televised live on FOX Sports Net 2 at 3:30 p.m.
At the rate the women's volleyball team is playing, it will soon grab its share of the headlines. The Women of Troy are 9-0 and have yet to drop a game, winning an amazing 27 in a row. In fact, the team ranked first by Volleyball Magazine and No. 5 by USA Today/AVCA has allowed an opponent to score double digits in a game only three times this year.
Last Friday, the Women of Troy won at Stanford, their first win there since 1977 (the victory broke Stanford's 45-match home win streak). USC starts three freshmen and is guided by interim head coach Jerritt Elliott, the 1999 Pac-10 Coach of the Year (USA women's Olympic coach Mick Haley comes on board after the Olympics, but won't take an active coaching role until 2001).
For our local fans, make sure and come out to the North Gym to watch the volleyball team attempt to break the school record for consecutive games won (28) set in the 1976-77 seasons. The Women of Troy take on Oregon State on Friday at 6 p.m. and Oregon on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Equally as impressive, the Trojans' men's water polo team is off to an 8-0 start and is ranked No. 1 nationally after capturing the prestigious Southern California Tournament two weeks ago. Already this year, the Trojans have defeated UCLA, California, Stanford and UC Irvine (all ranked in the Top 5 at the time of the game). The team travels to the Bay Area this weekend to take on rivals Stanford (Saturday) and California (Sunday).
Women's soccer is the black sheep, if you will, with only a 7-1 record (best start in history) and ranked as high as No. 10 in one of the four soccer polls (the Trojans had been as high as sixth before the loss). The loss was at Florida in double overtime, 2-1. The Women of Troy feature three players who were in the 1999 Women's World Cup (a Canadian and a pair of Mexicans). Sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Arase has allowed only one goal in 405 minutes this season (she's in the Top 10 nationally in goals against average) and is 12-0 in her career.
Throw in the fact that USC's amazing gold medal streak was extended in Sydney (a Trojan has won a gold medal in every summer Olympics since 1912) and you can see it's been an eye-opening first few weeks here
Come on down to campus and enjoy the action!
