University Southern California Trojans
No. 2 USC Competes At Stanford Invitational This Weekend
February 07, 2005 | Women's Water Polo
Feb. 7, 2005
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LOS ANGELES -- The No. 2 USC and defending national champion women's water polo team (2-0, 1-0) travels to the Stanford Invitational on Saturday (Feb. 12) and Sunday (Feb. 13). The eight-team tournament will feature six of the top ten teams in the nation: No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 USC, No. 3 Stanford, No. 6 Cal, No. 7 Hawaii and No. 10 Indiana. Rounding out the teams are No. 11 San Jose State and No. 13 UC Davis. The Women of Troy will compete in pool play against Cal, Hawaii and Indiana.
RANKINGS -- USC is ranked No. 2 in the latest U.S. Women's Water Polo Top 20 Poll.
Jovan Vavic -- In his 11th season as the program's only head coach, Jovan Vavic has built the Women of Troy into a national power, laying claim to two national championships (1999 and 2004). 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. Vavic, a native of Yugoslavia, was named the National Coach of the Year and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2004. Vavic is also the head coach for the USC men's water polo team, which won the 1998 and 2003 NCAA championships.
VAVIC'S CAREER RECORD -- Jovan Vavic has a 227-90 (.716) record in his 11th season with the Women of Troy. He possesses a 162-23 (.876) mark since the program was fully funded in 1999 and an even more impressive record of 109-12 (.901) since the 2001 season.
DEFENDING THE CROWN -- The 2004 USC team became the first squad in the brief four-year history of the NCAA-sponsored championship to go undefeated with a 29-0 record. The Women of Troy defeated Loyola Marymount, 10-8, in the national championship match for the program's second national title.
TWO-METER FORCE -- Junior two-meter Moriah Van Norman (San Diego) became the third USC player to win the Peter J. Cutino Award as the nation's top collegiate player (Bernice Orwig in 1999 and Aniko Pelle in 2000). She earned the award for the 2004 season after finishing second on the team in scoring with 58 goals as a dominating two-meter player. She also earned All-America first team honors. This season, Van Norman has six goals and needs 13 goals to tie Christina McCall for fifth place on USC's all-time scoring list.
GOLD MEDAL DUO -- Sophomore utility players Brittany Hayes (Santa Ana) and Erika Figge (Rancho Santa Margarita) not only celebrated their freshman seasons at USC with the national title, but recently earned gold medals with the U.S. Junior National Team at the 2005 FINA World Junior Championship in Australia. Hayes led the Women of Troy with 59 goals last season, earning All-America second team honors. She was the 2004 NCAA Championship most valuable player after scoring three goals and recording four assists in the national title match. Figge also earned All-America second team honors, scoring 33 goals last season for the Women of Troy.
PARDO(N) THE INTERRUPTION -- Senior two-meter defender Anna Pardo (Barcelona, Spain) earned All-America second team honors last season after scoring 36 goals for the Women of Troy. Pardo competed on Spain's 2003 Senior National Team while being a member of the Junior National Team from 1997-2003.
SISTER ACT -- This season, USC has not one, but two sets of sisters on the team. Junior two-meter defender Lauren Wenger (Long Beach) and sophomore utility, Jana, comprise one sister tandem while senior driver Melissa Madrid (Commerce, Calif./Bell Gardens HS) is joined by her sophomore sister, Denise. Lauren Wenger scored 19 goals last season for the Trojans.
