University Southern California Trojans
No. 3 Women of Troy Take On Two This Week
March 27, 2012 | Women's Water Polo
March 27, 2012
THIS WEEK
The No. 3 USC women's water polo team has another home stand this week. The action begins with a rare Wednesday matchup, with the Trojans (15-3, 3-1 MPSF) hosting No. 16 Hartwick (19-7) at 5 p.m. on March 28 at McDonald's Swim Stadium. When the weekend comes, USC sets up for an important MPSF clash with No. 5 California (16-5, 3-1). The Trojans will also honor their three graduating seniors -- Nadia Dan, Kara-Leigh Huse and Morgan Vickers -- in a Senior Day ceremony before the 1 p.m. game against the Bears on Saturday (March 31).
IN THE RANKINGS
USC opened 2012 tied at No. 3 in the nation alongside UCLA, but moved up to No. 2 on Feb. 8. The Trojans are now back at the No. 3 position again in the latest national rankings (released March 21). Hartwick ranked No. 16 in that last ranking cycle, and California was No. 5.
SCOUTING HARTWICK
The No. 16 Hawks are 19-7 overall after going 3-1 at last weekend's Roadrunner Invitational, where Hartwick beat Cal State East Bay, Redlands and Cal State Monterey Bay and lost to Cal Baptist. Lisa Bass is Hartwick's top scorer with 40 goals, and goalie Hayley Cox has 105 saves in 15 appearances to go with a 9.8 goals-against per game average. USC is 8-0 all-time against Hartwick after a 19-4 win over the Hawks last year in Los Angeles.
SCOUTING CAL
The No. 5 Golden Bears are 16-5 overall and 3-1 in MPSF play after beating San Diego State 8-6 last week.Cal's top scorer is Breda Vosters with 38 goals. Goalie Lindsay Dorst is averaging 8.1 saves and 6.3 goals against per game. USC is 25-18 all-time against Cal after two wins already this season. The Trojans beat Cal 10-5 in the third-place game of the Stanford Invitational and 9-6 in the third-place game of the UCI Invitational earlier this year. Last year, the Bears beat USC 8-3 in MPSF play in Berkeley.
LAST ACTION
USC pieced together a three-win week last week, starting with a 7-3 nonconference win over Long Beach State before taking down two top-10 teams. The Trojans snagged a crucial road win with a 9-7 victory over No. 4 Arizona State in MPSF play before returning home for a 10-6 win over No. 7 LMU. Aside from Kaleigh Gilchrist's career-high five-goal explosion in the win over LMU, no Trojan scored more than a single goal in each game. That impressive balance on the offensive end was backed up by three strong performances in the cage by goalie Flora Bolonyai, who had 10 saves vs. Long Beach State and a career-high 13 vs. ASU -- including 11 in the second half. Against LMU, Bolonyai finished with six saves, including a 5-meter penalty stop.
BY THE NUMBERS
USC is currently third in the MPSF in offense and defense, outscoring opponents 206-93 to average 11.44 goals scored and 5.17 goals-against per game. Sophomore Kaleigh Gilchrist is USC's top scorer with 29 goals to date, followed closely by freshman Monica Vavic with 25 goals. Not far behind her is senior Nadia Dan with 20, and junior Patricia Jancso at 19. Dan recently hit her 100th career goal on March 22 vs. Long Beach State. Jancso got to 100 on Feb. 23 in USC's win over Hawai'i, and now holds 109 career goals as a Trojan.
BOLONYAI IS MPSF'S BEST
Sophomore goalie Flora Bolonyai hauled in her first career honor as MPSF Player of the Week on March 26 after an outstanding week of action in the cage for the Women of Troy. She is the first Trojan to win the award this season. A two-time MPSF Newcomer of the Week as a freshman, Bolonyai matched her career high of 13 saves in an important MPSF road win over No. 4 ASU. The sophomore standout delivered 11 saves in the second half of play in Tempe, including six in the fourth period to go with a shutout effort in that frame as No. 3 USC beat the host Sun Devils 9-7. In USC's three games during the week, Bolonyai averaged 9.7 saves per game, tallying 10 in a 7-3 win over Long Beach State before the career-high 13 saves at ASU. And in a 10-6 USC win over No. 7 LMU, Bolonyai had six saves including one stop against a 5-meter penalty shot by the Lions.
MAKING HER MPSF MARK
USC freshman Savannah Fletcher scored seven goals in USC's first two games at the Lancer Invitational and finished with a team-high eight at the two-day event as USC picked up four more wins to improve to 7-1 on the year. For her outstanding work for the Women of Troy, Fletcher was named MPSF Newcomer of the Week, making her the first USC player this season to win a weekly award from the conference. On Feb. 17 in Riverside, Fletcher went big in game one, punching in four to lead the Trojans to a 14-2 win over Pacific. She followed that up with a hat trick next against Fresno Pacific that same day, and then hit one more with a goal against Concordia on Feb. 18.
BACK IN ACTION
USC returns 65 percent of its scoring from last year, including two of its top-three scorers from 2011 in junior Patricia Jancso and senior Nadia Dan, who combined for 83 goals last season. Dan and Jancso both earned All-American honors in 2011 along with sophomore goalie Flora Bolonyai, who anchored the Trojans in every game to the tune of 7.9 saves per game and 6.7 goals-against per game. Along with Bolonyai back in the cage, USC also has 13 players back in the water who tallied at least one goal for the Women of Troy in 2011.
CHAMPIONSHIP BASE
USC is just one season removed from the 2010 national championship year, which eight current players experienced. Seniors Nadia Dan and Kara-Leigh Huse were sophomores in that campaign, and the rest are now juniors, giving Vavic a powerful base of knowledge to tap into as he constructs a a defensive-minded squad to get the Trojans back on top. USC's top scorer in 2011, Patricia Jancso and fellow junior Dominique Sardo were impact players as freshmen during that 2010 championship run. Constance Hiller, Nicolina McCall, Blair Moody and Chelsea Silvers also got plenty of pool time as freshmen that year and even more last season as sophomores. Now, that pack of upperclassmen are charged with putting that know-how and skill to good use this year.
NEW CREW
USC's class of newcomers is a powerful group. Jovan Vavic has combined the strength of Eike Daube at two-meters and Monica Vavic as an insightful distributor with scoring ability with the quickness of transfer Olivia Cummins and freshman drivers Michelle Caron and Savannah Fletcher, to set up the Trojans for a youth movement toward success.
SOPHOMORE STRENGTH
Versatility will be an important counter punch for the Trojans, who can now follow up the more experienced defensive system on one end with a blend of offensive strategies going the opposite direction. After all, Vavic also knows he can rely on the sophomore savvy of Kaleigh Gilchrist, Colleen O'Donnell and Madeline Rosenthal, who combined for 35 goals as freshmen. O'Donnell and Rosenthal got extra experience as well as members of the U.S. Junior National Team, along with junior Dominique Sardo, in the fall at the FINA Junior World Championships. Sophomore Jennifer Stiefel also was there, playing for Germany, as well as fellow sophomore Flora Bolonyai, who won silver with Team Hungary.
BRONZE FOR BOLONYAI
Sophomore goalie Flora Bolonyai brings back some hardware from overseas as she now jumps into collegiate waters with her Women of Troy. As the linchpin of the Hungarian National Team's defense, Bolonyai helped her team to a bronze medal at the European Championships in January 2012 in the Netherlands. In doing so, Hungary moves on to fight for a spot in the London Olympic Games with a spot at April's Olympic Qualification Tournament. Bolonyai started her decorated debut with Hungary's Senior National Team earlier in the year as she picked up honors as the Best Goalie of the Tournament at the 2012 Thetis Cup before moving into this latest major competition with Hungary at the European Championships.
2011 RECAP
After graduating five All-Americans from its 2010 NCAA CHampionship team, the 2011 Trojans finished 19-8 overall and 4-3 in MPSF play with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Tournament. The Women of Troy extended their streak of NCAA appearances to eight straight with 2011's trip to the tourney. Five Trojans earned All-American honors in 2011 as well, with seniors Joelle Bekhazi and Kristen Dronberger pocketing their third consecutive All-American awards. The decorated duo was joined by three other teammates on the All-American list as well -- Flora Bolonyai, Nadia Dan and Patricia Jancso. Jancso, Bekhazi, Dan and Dronberger were USC's top four scorers, respectively, in 2011. Bolonyai was USC's wall in the cage, earning herself All-America honors in her first season as a Trojan. USC outscored opponents 280-188 in 2011, averaging 10.3 goals per game offensively and 7.0 goals against per game defensively.
