No. 3 USC Focuses In On No. 2 Stanford
April 02, 2008 | Women's Water Polo
April 2, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
THIS WEEK: USC has a shot at taking over the No. 2 slot in the nation this week as the No. 3 Trojans (14-5, 6-1 MPSF) set up to host No. 2 Stanford for an MPSF clash this week. USC will face the Cardinal (18-3, 6-1) at 12 p.m. on Saturday (April 5) at McDonald's Swim Stadium. The Trojans' MPSF schedule continues the following day with a 12 p.m. match against No. 9 San Jose State (11-10, 3-5) on Sunday (April 6).
RANKINGS: USC ranks No. 3 in the latest national poll. Stanford sits a step ahead at No. 2, and San Jose State ranks No. 9 this week.
LAST WEEK: After a week's break, USC returned to competition with a pair of MPSF wins, first getting a 17-6 home win over UC Santa Barbara and then topping San Diego State 13-8 on the road. Against the Gauchos, Veronika Bartunkova blasted in a career-high five goals for the Trojans. By the final buzzer, 10 different Women of Troy had scored, marking the fourth time this season the USC offense has swamped its opponent with 10 scorers. Miranda Nichols was next in line with three goals for the Trojans, and starting goalie Tumua Anae notched 10 saves in three periods of play. The next day, USC got another strong offensive outing from Bartunkova and solid play in the cage from goalie Anae. Bartunkova punched in four goals for the Trojans, while Anae had 10 saves to help pace the Women of Troy in the victory. For her nine-goal outing in USC's two wins, Bartunkova was named MPSF Mikasa Co-Player of the Week.
SCOUTING STANFORD: The No. 2 Cardinal are 18-3 overall and 6-1 in MPSF play after four wins in the past week. Two of those were MPSF wins, as Stanford beat Hawai'i 10-9 in overtime and also beat Long Beach State 15-7. Stanford's top scorer is Lolo Silver, who averages 2.3 goals per game. Goalie Amber Oland averages 7.7 saves per game. USC is 17-15 all-time against Stanford after having split games with the Cardinal this season.USC beat Stanford 5-4 in their first meeting this year at the Stanford Invitational, and the Cardinal claimed a 7-6 overtime win in the next meeting at the semis of the UC Irvine Invitational.
SCOUTING SJSU: The No. 9 Spartans are 11-10 overall and 3-5 in MPSF play after claiming an 8-5 win over Long Beach State last week. San Jose State's top scorers are Adrianna Vogt and Juliet Moss with 1.8 and 1.7 goals per game, respectively. Goalie Kendra Adama averages 7.1 saves per game. USC is a perfect 17-0 all-time against San Jose State after beating the Spartans 12-5 and 14-4 last season.
STEIN STRIKES AGAIN: Junior Michelle Stein stands as USC's leading scorer on the season with 39 goals. She had nine in four games at the UC Irvine Tournament, just a week after scoring seven goals in two games for the Trojans to help USC to a 2-0 start in MPSF play. Stein scored four of USC's final eight goals against UC Irvine and had a hat trick as USC avenged an earlier loss to ASU the next day. Recently, Stein had another seven-goal outing across two games, as USC beat Cal and Pacific on the road. After both those seven-goal weekends, Stein earned her first career honors as the MPSF Mikasa Co-Player of the Week, giving her two selections this season.
BALANCING ACTS: In the previous three seasons, the Trojans have tallied 18 different scorers each year. In game one of 2008, USC made a big early dent in that mark with 10 Women of Troy scoring in USC's opener against Hartwick on Feb. 2, hinting at another widespread scoring attack from the Trojans in the season to come. The next game proved the point, with another 10-player production to get two more Trojans on the scoring charts this season. USC has since hit the 10-scorer mark twice more -- against Pacific on March 9 and against UC Santa Barbara on March 28. To date, 15 different Trojans have scored this year.
GETTING DEFENSIVE: The Trojans are just a breath out of the No. 1 slot in the conference's top defensive standings thanks to a strong stand in 2008. Behind a potent tag-team in the cage of goalies Tumua Anae and Whitney Morgan, and arguably the top defensive field players in the game -- Forel Davies and Miranda Nichols -- USC is averaging 5.53 goals against per game. Morgan and Anae also top the MPSF in fewest goals allowed with 2.60 and 4.63 goals against per game, respectively.
TUMUA TAKES CONTROL: Sophomore goalie Tumua Anae claimed her first career award from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation on March 3, named the MPSF Mikasa Co-Player of the Week after another strong weekend in the cage. Anae put up big defensive numbers again in the cage for the Trojans, tallying 21 saves in just over six periods of play last week as USC ballooned its home win streak to 42 straight victories. Anae ranks third in the conference with 9.3 saves per game.
SENIOR STRIKER: After 19 games, senior Veronika Bartunkova has surpassed her previous best season goal total of 27 from last season. After a career-high five goals against UC Santa Barbara on March 28, Bartunkova punched in four the following day at San Diego State for a nine-goal weekend than earned the senior her first career honor as MPSF Player of the Week. She sits as USC's second scoring leader with 34 goals, having struck in 14 games so far this year, including 10 multiple-goal outings.
FOREL'S FAST: Sophomore Forel Davies has plenty of speed to go along with her defensive prowess and offensive abilities. She won eight of her nine opening sprints at the UC Irvine Invitational, including five straight in USC's semifinal overtime clash with Stanford. She's tallied 14 goals so far this season.
SECOND-YEAR SURGE: USC's sophomores have stepped up in their second seasons of action. Alexandra Kiss and Kally Lucas are matched with 21 goals apiece, putting Kiss on pace to hit last year's mark of 36 goals while Lucas has already bettered her freshman year total of 15. Fellow sophomores Forel Davies and Tumua Anae are key members of the Trojan defense, as Davies anchors a tough two-meter defense slot and Anae has been huge in the cage as USC's starting goalie.
CAPTAIN'S LOG: Senior captain Julie Spataru has doubled her career scoring tally from the start of the season, having matched her count of 11 goals in her first three seasons with 11 goals this season alone.
PUTTING THE "USC" IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: As the 2008 Olympic Games draw near, so does the promise of Olympic dreams for several Trojans. USC athletes comprise almost a third of the current U.S. women's national team roster, as Team USA preps for Beijing. USC junior Kami Craig is taking time off from the pool at Troy this year in order to work toward the games alongside five former Trojans: Patty Cardenas, Erika Figge, Brittany Hayes, Moriah Van Norman and Lauren Wenger. Team USA also boasts 1996 USC grad and 2000 Olympian Bernice Orwig as an assistant coach. Over the summer, USC sophomore Forel Davies joined Craig as a member of the U.S. Junior National Team at the 2007 Junior World Championships in Portugal. To keep up with the Women of Troy in their pursuit of Olympic gold, check back to usctrojans.com and also at usawaterpolo.org.
HOME POOL ADVANTAGE: After five straight undefeated seasons at McDonald's Swim Stadium, USC's home winning streak stretched out to 42 straight wins before UCLA edged out the Trojans 8-7 on March 14 of this season. UCLA had been the last team to beat USC at home before the streak began, when the Bruins claimed a 7-6 MPSF Semifinal win over the Trojans on April 27, 2002, when USC last hosted the MPSF Tournament. The Trojans went 7-0 at home in 2003, 7-0 in 2004, 8-0 in 2005, 9-0 in 2006 and 7-0 in 2007. USC is now 5-1 at home this season.
WHO'S BACK: Leading the Trojans into the 2008 season are a set of four experienced seniors ¬-- Veronika Bartunkova, Miranda Nichols, Alison Riddle and Julie Spataru -- as well as 2006 All-American goalie Whitney Morgan and 2007 MPSF All-Freshman picks Forel Davies and Alexandra Kiss. Also entering another year of action at Troy are juniors Jordan Anae and Michelle Stein and sophomores Tumua Anae and Kally Lucas.
WHO'S NEW: USC has added a stack of new talent to its 2008 roster, including a set of last year's redshirt players. The Trojans' redshirt freshman are Tekla Beckmann, Shauna Letvin and Rebecca McCall. And splashing down for their first seasons at Troy as true freshmen are Kristen Dronberger, Katie Indvik, Jessica Kutcher, Stephanie Lavayen, Courtney Ray, Lindsey Urquhart and Sarah Van Norman.
LAST SEASON: In 2007, USC finished third in the NCAA Tournament and in the MPSF Tournament, losing to eventual national champion UCLA by a single goal in the semifinals at both tournaments. The Trojans went 22-6 overall last season and were 10-2 in MPSF action. The Women of Troy also expanded their home win streak to 38 straight games with their fifth consecutive undefeated season at McDonald's Swim Stadium.
