USC Advances To MPSF Championship Semifinals

Friday, April 25

Stanford, Calif.

All Day

USC

MPSF Championship (San Diego State)

Junior goalie Kelly Graff made 10 saves in Friday's 11-5 win against San Diego State at the MPSF Championship

USC Advances To MPSF Championship Semifinals

April 25, 2003 | Women's Water Polo

April 25, 2003

STANFORD, Calif. - After the first day of competition at the 2003 MPSF Women's Water Polo Tournament, the top four seeds remain undefeated and will face each other in the Semifinals tomorrow. USC will face UCLA in a match that also features Lexus Gauntlet implications. If the Women of Troy win, they will tie the season series at two apiece and gain 2.5 points in the standings. A win and appearance in the MPSF Championship final might also ensure a possible bid to the NCAA Championship in two weeks at UC San Diego.

At the Avery Aquatic Center today, UC Santa Barbara won the first game (3-2 over San Jose State) to advance to an afternoon match against top-seeded Stanford. The Cardinal posted a 10-1 victory over the Gauchos as Brenda Villa tallied four goals for the Cardinal. Sophomore Hannah Luber added three as UCSB chalked up only one goal (from an advantage situation) against Stanford. Stanford is now 18-2 on the season, UCSB holds a 16-14 record and San Jose State falls to 15-15. . The Cardinal will match up against fourth-seeded Long Beach State in the first Semifinal match tomorrow after the 49ers posted a 9-4 win over the California Golden Bears this afternoon. Long Beach's Cassie Azevedo tallied four goals today, including a penalty shot and 6-on-5 goal in the third period while Roberta Stewart converted the second penalty goal of the day for the 49ers. Long Beach State improved to 24-6 on the year, while California falls to 13-8.

San Diego State won the second contest of the day with a 9-3 victory over UC Irvine, but fell to the second-seeded USC Women of Troy later in the day. USC posted an 11-5 win over the Aztecs on the strength of a five-goal outing in the third quarter during which Sofia Konoukh scored two of her game-leading three goals. Kelly Graff collected 10 saves in goal for the Women of Troy, including a blocked penalty shot in the first period. USC is now 23-3 on the year, San Diego State carries a 19-12 record and UC Irvine drops to 18-21.

USC will face UCLA in the second Semifinal tomorrow as the Bruins downed Hawai'i in the seventh match of the day. The Rainbow Wahine posted an 8-3 win over Pacific this morning before falling to the Bruins 12-3 tonight. UCLA's Natalie Golda chalked up four of the Bruins' first seven goals tonight while Kristina Kunkel added three goals in the match. UCLA is 20-3 on the year, Hawa'i owns an 11-13 record and Pacific drops to 7-21 in 2003.

Games will begin at 1 p.m. tomorrow with the Semifinal matches starting at 6 and 7:15 p.m. Complete schedule information can be found at the Tourney Tracker section.

2003 MPSF Championship TournamentApril 25, 2003Friday - Session 1Match 1#8 San Jose State vs. #9 UC Santa BarbaraTeam 1 2 3 4 TotalSan Jose St. 0 0 0 2 2UC Santa Barbara 0 0 1 2 3San Jose State Scoring: Jessica Levin 2.UC Santa Barbara Scoring: Teresa Gorbett 3.Goalie Saves: Nichole Lipman (SJSU) 6; Christy Medigovich (UCSB) 6.6-on-5: San Jose State 2-4; UC Santa Barbara 2-7.
Match 2#7 San Diego State vs. #10 UC IrvineTeam 1 2 3 4 TotalSan Diego St. 3 3 2 2 9UC Irvine  1 0 1 1 3San Diego State Scoring: Casey Finnegan 3, Holly Hartzell 3,Dominique Delgado 2, Chelsy Smith 1.UC Irvine Scoring: Melissa Fernandez 1, Megan O'Donnell 1, Lauren Volcan 1.Goalie Saves: Ashley Zabel (SDSU) 7; Jennifer Moon (UCI) 3.6-on-5: San Diego State 2-4; UC Irvine 3-6.Penalty Shots: San Diego State 2-2; UC Irvine 1-1.
Match 3#6 Hawai'i vs. #11 PacificTeam 1 2 3 4 TotalHawai'i 2 1 2 3 8Pacific 0 1 1 1 3Hawai'i Scoring: Beth Novick 4, Chelsea Garner-Prohs 1, Erin Kocher1, Tamara Molina 1, Malia Tarayao 1.Pacific Scoring: Jessica Melcher 2, Courtney Christy 1.Goalie Saves: Amber Lumb (Hawai'i) 9; Julie Ross (Pacific) 12.6-on-5: Hawai'i 0-5; Pacific 1-6.
Friday - Session IIMatch 4#4 Long Beach State vs. #5 CaliforniaTeam 1 2 3 4 TotalLong Beach St. 2 2 3 2 9California 0 1 2 1 4Long Beach State Scoring: Cassie Azevedo 4, Tara Campbell 1, AngelicaGarcia 1, Robyn Gordin 1, Roberta Stewart 1, Drue Wawrzynski 1.California Scoring: Allison Gold 2, Jodie Needles 2.Goalie Saves: Bri Hawkins (LBSU) 8; Lauren Dennis (Cal) 6.6-on-5: Long Beach State 3-7; California 1-6.Penalty Shots: Long Beach State 1-1.
Match 5#1 Stanford vs. UC Santa BarbaraTeam 1 2 3 4 TotalStanford 4 4 2 0 10UC Santa Barbara 1 0 0 0 1Stanford Scoring: Brenda Villa 4, Hannah Luber 3, Elizabeth Derse 1,Julie Gardner 1, Kelty Luber 1.UC Santa Barbara Scoring: Katy Kunkel 1.Goalie Saves: Jackie Frank (Stanford) 4, Amanda Matuk (Stanford) 2;Christy Medigovich (UCSB) 1, Kristin McGlennon (UCSB) 2.6-on-5: Stanford 0-2; UCSB 1-4.
Match 6#2 USC vs. San Diego StateTeam 1 2 3 4 TotalUSC 2 2 5 2 11San Diego St. 1 1 1 2 5USC Scoring: Sofia Konoukh 3, Lizz Simms 2, Lauren Wenger 2, EszterGyori 1, Julie Henn 1, Katay Kocsis 1, Moriah VanNorman 1.San Diego State Scoring: Dominique Delgado 2, Sandy Onweller 1, Chelsy Smith 1.Goalie Saves: Kelly Graff (USC) 10; Ashley Zabel (SDSU) 8.6-on-5: USC 3-5; SDSU 0-3.Penalty Shots: SDSU 0-1.
Match 7#3 UCLA vs. Hawai'iTeam 1 2 3 4 TotalUCLA 5 4 2 1 12Hawai'i 1 2 0 0 3UCLA Scoring: Natalie Golda 4, Kristina Kunkel 3, Kristyn Pulver 2,Maureen Flannagan 1, Devon McIntyre 1, Kelly Rulon 1.Hawai'i Scoring: Chelsea Garner-Prohs 2, Karin VanHoff 1.Goalie Saves: Jaime Hipp (UCLA) 5, Tahlia Kerr (UCLA) 1; Leanna Hahn(Hawai'i) 6.6-on-5: UCLA 4-5; Hawai'i 1-3.