USC Women Grab At-Large Berth In 2011 NCAA Action
May 02, 2011 | Women's Water Polo
May 2, 2011
CLICK HERE FOR THE 2011 BRACKET
The USC women's water polo team will set up defense of its 2010 NCAA Championship as the No. 4 seed into this year's tournament. The 2011 NCAA bracket was revealed today at ncaa.com, with a slightly different look than in years past. USC has been a mainstay in the NCAA tournament, as the Women of Troy have secured their eighth straight appearance with this year's selection. The 2011 NCAA Tournament will be held May 13-15 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
This year's national collegiate championship field of eight marks the first appearance of a team out of the Big West Conference. The conference tournament champions California (MPSF), UC San Diego (WWPA), Indiana (CWPA) and UC Irvine (Big West) will be joined by three at-large teams -- USC, UCLA and Stanford -- as well as the winner of a play-in match between the tournament champs from the SCIAC and the MAAC -- Redlands and Iona, respectively. That play-in match will be held May 7 in Greenwich, Conn.
USC's run last season to the 2010 NCAA Championship marked the program's third national championship overall and fifth appearance in a title match during a run of seven straight NCAA tournament appearances. In order to get back to the NCAA final this year, the Trojans will first have to get past No. 5 seed UC Irvine at 7:30 p.m. ET on May 13 in order to make a 4:30 p.m. ET semifinal crossover clash with either Stanford or the play-in winner on May 14. The 2011 national championship match is set for 4:30 p.m. ET on May 15.
In the past eight years, it has been either UCLA or USC that has claimed the national championship. The Trojans were the No. 2 seed behind top-seeded Stanford last year when USC won the title, improving its all-time NCAA Tournament record to 15-5. This year, the seedings stand as No. 1 Stanford (25-1), No. 2 Cal (24-4), No. 3 UCLA (24-6), No. 4 USC (18-6), No. 5 UC Irvine (21-8), No. 6 Indiana (25-11), No. 7 UC San Diego (17-18) and the No. 8 seed to be determined by the play-in game between Redlands and Iona.
This season, a relatively young USC team is under the guidance of 2010 National Coach of the Year Jovan Vavic, who has his 2011 team led by two-time senior All-Americans Joelle Bekhazi and Kristen Dronberger, and with freshman goalie Flora Bolonyai in the cage. Along with Bekhazi and Dronberger, 11 players return from USC's 2010 NCAA championship roster -- seniors Sarah Van Norman and backup goalie Courtney Ray, juniors Nadia Dan and Kara-Leigh Huse, and sophomores Constance Hiller, Patricia Jancso, Nicolina McCall, Blair Moody and Dominique Sardo. Gone are five 2010 All-Americans who graduated from last year's championship roster, although the Trojans have reloaded with some strong freshman talent this year, adding Bolonyai in goal along with field players Kaleigh Gilchrist, Colleen O'Donnell and Madeline Rosenthal in the mix for their first NCAA action next week.
The 2011 Trojans finished fifth in the MPSF Tournament last week, as the No. 5 seeds beat No. 3 seed Hawai'i in the fifth-place game. USC will carry an 18-6 overall record into the 2011 NCAA Tournament, looking for the program's 14th consecutive 20-win season and aiming for a fourth national championship to go along with one in 1999, an undefeated run in 2004, and last year's 2010 NCAA crown.
