University Southern California Trojans
February 24, 2016 | Women's Water Polo
Feb. 24, 2016
THIS WEEK
The top-ranked USC squad digs in for another important early-season tournament this weekend, engaging in action at the 2016 UCI Invitational. The Trojans will look to keep their undefeated record intact, taking their 7-0 mark first up against Cal State Northridge in their opening match at 8 a.m. on Saturday (Feb. 27). A win there would put USC up against either Arizona State or UC Irvine later that day. If the Trojans can emerge victorious on day one, they'll roll on through to the semifinals on Sunday (Feb. 28) to fight for a spot in the 5:15 p.m. championship match. The third-place game is set for 4 p.m. that day. All of USC's action is due to take place at Anteater Aquatics Complex in Irvine.
USC IN THE RANKINGS
USC opened 2016 ranked No. 3 in the national preseason poll and at No. 2 in the MPSF preseason poll. The Trojans moved up to rank No. 2 on Feb. 10, and have since risen in the ranks to stand as the No. 1 team in the nation as of this week's Feb. 17 national poll. The last time USC was ranked No. 1 was in March 2014.
TRITON INVITATIONAL NOTES
This year's edition of the competitive UCI Invitational features 16 teams, including five MPSF teams in USC, UCLA, California, Stanford and Arizona State. The teams will open up action playing through four-team groups, designated as follows, on Saturday:
Group A: #1 USC, #7 Arizona State, #9 UC Irvine, #25 Cal State Northridge
Group B: #2 UCLA, #7 Michigan, #11 San Jose State, #19 San Diego State
Group C: #3 California, #6 Hawai'i, #12 Pacific, #17 UC Santa Barbara
Group D: #4 Stanford, UC Davis, #13 UC San Diego, #14 Loyola Marymount
On Sunday, semifinals and placement games will be held. Last year, the Trojans finished up in third place at the event. USC opened up with an 11-3 win over UC Santa Barbara and followed with a 14-4 win over Arizona State to move into the semifinals. There, the Troans took a 5-3 loss to UCLA to wind up in the third-place game against Cal. The Trojans would top the Golden Bears 12-6 to claim third in the 2015 tourney.
LAST WEEK
USC manufactured another decisive win last weekend, topping No. 25 Cal State Northridge 15-3 in the Trojans' home pool. USC notched eight different scorers on the stat sheet, led by Stephania Haralabidis' four-goal outing and anchored defensively by 13 saves in three quarters of work by freshman goalie Amanda Longan. USC punched up the first couple goals of the day before CSUN fired back to make it a one-goal game early on. The home team would take a strong stand against that challenge, rattling off 11 straight scores that spanned into the third period. USC's defense would pitch a shut out of the Matadors in the entire second frame before CSUN was able to break its silence with back-to-back scores to break up USC's rally and make it 13-3 late in the third. Ioanna Haralabidis had the last word of the quarter, slicing in a strike that had USC up 14-3 entering the fourth period. That's when senior goalie Alegra Hueso took over the cage for Longan. Once again, the Trojans would keep the Matadors out of the cage for next eight minutes, while Stephania Haralabidis rattled in her fourth of the day to wrap the game as a 15-3 USC victory. USC would end the day with eight scorers, led by Stephania's four and with two apiece coming from Hayley McKelvey, Brianna Daboub, Brigitta Games and Ioanna Haralabidis, while Annika Jensen, Avery Peterson and Melissa Bergesen also rifled in scores for the undefeated Trojans. Amanda Longan would go on to earn repeat honors as the MPSF Newcomer of the Week for her 13-save performance against the Matadors.
TAKING THE TRITON TITLE
USC kept its 2016 slate clean in surging to the Triton Invitational championship in early February. The Trojans grabbed two decisive wins on the first day to reach the semifinals, where they pinned up a 6-3 win over No. 5 Arizona State. That evening, the Trojans clashed with crosstown rival UCLA in the championship game, and USC took control of the tile match en route to an 8-6 win that snapped a five-game losing stretch against the Bruins. Stephania Haralabidis was USC's top scorer at the event, tallying nine goals across the four games, including a hat trick in the championship win over UCLA. The Trojans opened up with a 20-2 win over Santa Clara on Saturday morning before facing host UC San Diego in the afternoon. The Trojans went on to post a 15-8 win over the Tritons to secure that semifinal spot against the Sun Devils on Sunday. In those two games, USC had two Trojans tally their first career goals as freshmen Dagmar Gudmundsson and Brooke Presten both got on the scoresheets. The next day, USC displayed some stubborn defensive work in holding ASU to only three goals in the semifinal game. Offensively, USC crafted an early 2-0 lead on goals from Haralabidis and Brigitta Games. That one-two punch by the Trojans woke up the Sun Devils, but ASU's first goal of the day was answered swiftly by a Hayley McKelvey blast to net USC a 3-1 lead after one period of play. In the second period, USC forged on, rattling in three unanswered goals as the Haralabidis sisters took care of business on the offensive end. Stephania rattled in one more and Ioanna hammered home a pair to get USC a 6-1 halftime advantage. USC would come up empty in the second half, but the Trojan defense held its ground against the Sun Devils. ASU put a lone goal through in the third and fourth periods to round out a 6-3 USC victory with goalies Amanda Longan and Alegra Hueso sharing time in the cage. In the championship game, USC went up against rival UCLA for the first time since taking a loss to the Bruins in the 2015 MPSF semifinal. The Trojans were ready for this rematch, leaping out to a 3-0 lead on the Bruins. Once again, Stephania Haralabidis and Games lit the fuse for USC, and Brianna Daboub got in on the action early in the second before the Bruins were able to break their silence. UCLA closed the gap to 3-2, but Daboub delivered again, and Haralabidis would answer UCLA's next score with a blast of her own to take the Trojans to a 5-3 halftime lead. Again, UCLA managed to close the gap down to one, punching one in to start the third. Again, the Trojans had a potent response. Ioanna Haralabidis, Daboub and Stephania Haralabidis zipped in three straight scores for the Trojans, putting USC largely in the driver's seat with an 8-4 advantage. UCLA was able to net only two goals in the remaining time, while goalie Victória Chamorro closed out a complete game with seven saves to lock in on USC's 8-6 championship victory over the Bruins.
BY THE NUMBERS
Through the first seven games of 2016, undefeated USC has outscored opponents 109-28, leading the MPSF in offense (15.6 gpg) and in defense (4.0 gapg). Junior Stephania Haralabidis is the top scorer to date with 19 goals -- moving her up to rank No. 13 all-time in career scoring with 141 goals. Just a notch behind her are three fellow juniors. Avery Peterson has already bettered her sophomore season total with 14 goals to date, even with fellow junior Brigitta Games and just ahead of Ioanna Haralabidis' 13 goals, moving her closer to the 100-goal mark in her career in currently holding 96. On the defensive end, freshman goalie Amanda Longan has capped in five games and is averaging 8.9 saves and 3.7 goals-against per game in her 13 periods of work. Returning All-American goalie Victória Chamorro has appeared in 10 periods and averages 6.8 saves and 6.0 goals-against per game. Senior goalie Alegra Hueso has allowed only one goal in her five frames of work in the cage to date.
TROJAN SWEEP AT TRITON INVITE
For their efforts in driving the Trojans to a perfect performance at the Triton Invitational, USC's Stephania Haralabidis and Amanda Longan earned weekly honors from the MPSF on Feb. 16. Haralabidis was named the MPSF Player of the Week, and freshman Longan was the MPSF Newcomer of the Week. Haralabidis was USC's top scorer in its run to winning the Triton Invitational championship. She topped out with a hat trick in the title match, where the Trojans beat No. 1 UCLA 8-6 in the final to stay perfect at 6-0 on the year. Haralabidis scored four goals on the first day of action at the tourney, scoring twice in wins over Santa Clara and No. 19 host UC San Diego to help secure USC a spot in the semifinals the next day. There, Haralabidis scored the first goal of the game and then added another to help generate a 6-3 win for USC over No. 5 Arizona State, leading into her three goals in USC's 8-6 win over UCLA in the final. Haralabidis' nine goals at the event moves her up to stand as the Trojans' top scorer on the year with 15 goals to date. Freshman goalie Longan had a strong showing in helping USC along to the Triton Invitational championship over the weekend. In her two appearances, Longan collected a total of eight saves -- including a 5-meter penalty stop -- and allowed only four goals. She made three saves in three periods of work in the opening 20-2 win over Santa Clara and then made five saves in the same stretch of action in USC's 6-3 semifinal win over No. 5 Arizona State. It was the second career selection as MPSF Player of the Week for Haralabidis and the first weekly MPSF award for Longan.
INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCES
The overall young Trojans have garnered plenty of international experience on the way into this 2016 campaign for USC. Incoming freshman goalie Amanda Longan won gold with Team USA at the 2015 FINA Junior World Championships, where several other Trojans were competing with their respective countries. The Haralabidis sisters, Ioanna and Stephania were in action with Greece; goalie Victória Chamorro capped up for Brazil; and Hayley McKelvey was a high scorer for Canada.
CAGE FIGHTERS
USC's goalkeeping corps this season is ferociously deep. Sophomore Victória Chamorro set a freshman goalie record last season in hauling in 207 saves in her first year as a Trojan. This year, she's joined by freshman Amanda Longan, who was named Top Goalkeeper at the 2015 FINA Junior World Championships during the summer. Added veteran experience comes from senior captain Alegra Hueso, who has appeared in 27 games during her first three seasons as a Trojan. Even more depth between the pipes comes from junior Melanie Slater and sophomore Nicola Gonzales.
OH CAPTAINS, MY CAPTAINS
The most experienced player in the pool this season is junior Avery Peterson -- one of three Trojan captains for 2016. Sophomore Brianna Daboub and senior Alegra Hueso also have been selected as team captains for the year. Peterson weighs in as the veteran of the group in that she has logged the most playing time of the bunch. With 20 goals to her name as a Trojan, the 2-meter power was in the water for USC's last two NCAA Tournament runs. Daboub may just be a sophomore, but her savvy helps her stand out as another key leader for the Trojans this season. She scored 27 goals as a freshman and was named to the 2015 MPSF All-Newcomer Team. A senior, Hueso has been at Troy since her freshman season in 2013, when USC won its last NCAA Championship.
2016 TROJANS AT A GLANCE
The Women of Troy take aim at their 2016 campaign under the direction of head coach Jovan Vavic for the 22nd season. The USC women are looking to extend a streak of 12 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, and the talent is certainly there to make a strong run at a title. Picked No. 2 in the MPSF Preseason Coaches Poll, the Trojans weigh in just a point behind top-picked Stanford. Both the Trojans and the Cardinal each received three first-place votes, hinting at a heated race for the 2016 title to come. USC returns three of its top five scorers from 2015 -- Stephania Haralabidis (64 goals), Ioanna Haralabidis (50 goals) and Melissa Bergesen (37 goals) -- along with All-American goalie Victória Chamorro and All-American two-meter power Brigitta Games. The Haralabidis twins earned All-American status last season as well. In all, USC returns 11 members of last season's 16-player NCAA roster. •
Players Mentioned
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Goalie
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2-Meter
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Goalie
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UT
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Driver
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Driver
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Goalie
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Utility
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G
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Utility
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Two-Meter
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DR
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Goalie
/ Women's Water PoloWednesday, April 29
Sunday, April 26
Saturday, April 25
Monday, March 24
