Women Of Troy Battle For MPSF Championship This Weekend
April 21, 2003 | Women's Water Polo
April 21, 2003
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LOS ANGELES - The No. 2-ranked USC women's water polo team (22-3) will compete in the 2003 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship on Friday-Sunday (April 25-27) at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Complex. The Women of Troy earned the tourney's No. 2 seed after finishing as MPSF co-champions with Stanford (Stanford earns the No. 1 seed after defeating USC on March 29, 5-3). The winner of the MPSF Championship will receive the automatic bid to the four-team NCAA Championship on Saturday-Sunday (May 10-11) at UC San Diego.
LAST WEEK - USC won at Loyola Marymount, 7-6, in the final match of the regular season. Moriah Van Norman led the team with three goals on the afternoon as Katrin Dierolf scored the game-winner with 1:11 remaining in the match.
RANKINGS - USC is ranked No. 2 in the latest U.S. Women's Water Polo Top 20 Poll.
JOVAN VAVIC - In his ninth season as the program's only head coach, Jovan Vavic has built the Women of Troy into a national power, which culminated with the 1999 national championship. He oversaw the program's move from Division II to Division I in 1996. In 1997, the Trojans made their first-ever Division I National Championships appearance with a seventh-place finish while the 1998 team finished in fifth place. In 2000, USC finished second in the nation and placed third in MPSF conference play in 2001. In 1999, Vavic, a native of Yugoslavia, was named the National Coach of the Year and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Coach of the Year. Vavic is also the head coach for the USC men's water polo team, which won the 1998 NCAA championship.
VAVIC'S CAREER RECORD - Jovan Vavic has a 188-89 (.679) record in his ninth season with the Women of Troy.
MORIAH VAN NORMAN - Freshman two-meter Moriah Van Norman (San Diego, Calif.) leads the Women of Troy in scoring this season with 61 goals. She scored a team-high three goals in an 8-6 upset win on Feb. 21 at No. 2 UCLA and a 9-5 win against Hawaii on Feb. 9 at the Stanford Tournament. For her efforts against UCLA, she was named MPSF Mikasa Player of the Week on Feb. 24. On March 8, she led the team with four goals in a 10-4 win against San Diego State at the UC Santa Barbara Tournament. She scored a team-high five goals on March 14 in a 10-5 MPSF win against No. 5 California at McDonald's Swim Stadium.
KATRIN DIEROLF - Senior utility Katrin Dierolf (Esslingen, Germany) is second on the team this season with 43 goals. On March 21 at Hawai'i, she scored a team-high five goals in an 8-4 MPSF victory, earning her MPSF Mikasa Player of the Week honors. Dierolf scored six goals in two matches on March 8 at the UC Santa Barbara Tournament in wins over UC Irvine and San Diego State. She was tied for third last year in scoring with 53 goals. In her 2001 sophomore season, finishing third on the team in scoring with 65 goals. For her efforts, Dierolf earned All-America third team and All-MPSF second team honors.
SOFIA KONOUKH - The USC program received good news in the fall when senior utility Sofia Konoukh (Chelyabinsk, Russia) was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA. She missed a season while participating in the 2000 Olympics. This season, she is third on the team in scoring with 42 goals. On March 21 at Hawai'i, she became the third Trojan ever to register 200 career goals (Aniko Pelle and Nina Wengst). On Feb. 17, she earned MPSF Mikasa Player of the Week honors after scoring three goals in a win on Feb. 15 against San Diego State. She scored 10 goals in five matches and was named most valuable player at the 2003 Long Beach State Tournament. Konoukh earned first team All-America and MPSF Player of the Year honors after leading the Women of Troy with 70 goals last year. In 2001, she also earned first team All-America honors after scoring a school-record 103 goals and was named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Co-Field Player of the Year.
KELLY GRAFF - Junior Kelly Graff (Irvine, Calif.) has been the Women of Troy's No. 1 goalie for most of the season, appearing in every match. She has made 130 saves this season in 23 matches (71 periods).
LIZ SIMMS - Junior utility Liz Simms (Balmaim, Sydney, Australia) is one of the top USC newcomers for the 2003 season. She is fourth on the team in scoring with 25 goals. She scored a team-high three goals in a 9-4 MPSF win on March 1 against No. 4 Long Beach State. On Feb. 8, she scored four goals in a 26-1 win against UC Santa Cruz at the Stanford Tournament. Simms was a member of the 2002 Australian National Team.
LAUREN WENGER - Freshman two-meter defender Lauren Wenger (Long Beach, Calif) has made an immediate impact this season and is fifth on the team in scoring with 21 goals. She scored three goals in USC's 11-9 win on Feb. 2 at UC Santa Barbara.
ESZTER GYORI - Sophomore Eszter Gyori (Csongrad, Hungary) is sixth on the team in scoring this season with 16 goals. She scored three goals in an 11-7 win on Feb. 15 against San Diego State. Last year, she finished fifth on the team with 27 goals.
