Players Mentioned
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
D
/ Women's Water Polo
G
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
USC’s Amanda Longan And Jovan Vavic Earn National Top Honors From ACWPC
May 29, 2018 | Women's Water Polo, Features
Longan is Player of the Year, Vavic is Coach of the Year, and five other Trojans are All-Americans.
For the fourth time in program history, the USC women's water polo team has followed up a national championship run with a sweep of the nation's top honors, as this year's Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches awards have USC's Amanda Longan locked in as National Player of the Year and head coach Jovan Vavic standing as the National Coach of the Year. Longan is the second Trojan goalie to win the award, while Vavic now has his fifth selection on the women's side. This year, Longan has four other Women of Troy by her side as ACWPC All-Americans. An All-America First Team honoree, junior Longan is joined by freshman Paige Hauschild and sophomore Maud Megens on the First Team list. Senior Brianna Daboub has a spot on the All-America Second Team, with fellow senior Hayley McKelvey on the Third Team. Sophomore Denise Mammolito also stands tall in 2018 with All-America Honorable Mention now to her name.
USC's 2018 NCAA Championship marked the 15th national title won by USC head coach Jovan Vavic, who runs both the men's and women's programs. On the women's side, this latest crown was the sixth national championship for the Women of Troy and the 105th NCAA team title for USC overall. In his 24th season at the helm, Vavic saw his USC women post a remarkable 26-1 overall record, ending the year on a 16-game win streak as the Trojans captured the 2018 title in home waters at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Vavic's career record on the women's side now stands at 571-147 as he follows up his 2018 MPSF Coach of the Year pick with this 2018 National Coach of the Year honor — the sixth time he has swept those awards on the women's side. In all, Vavic has been named National Coach of the Year 14 times — six with the women and eight with the men.
Also a finalist for the Peter J. Cutino Award — to be announced June 2 — junior goalie Amanda Longan rose to the occasion on all counts in helping her Trojans in their run to the 2018 NCAA Championship. Crowned the MPSF Player of the Year and standing as USC's No. 3 all-time saves leader with 590 saves collected in three seasons of work as a Trojan, Longan has run her career count of double-digit save effort to 33 after making 10 stops in the 2018 national championship game. Named the NCAA Tournament MVP, she'd finish the season with 214 saves, averaging 11.03 per game and allowing just 5.24 goals-against per game to back up a stingy USC defense. Along the way, Longan manned the cage through back-to-back shutouts and also set a new career high with 18 saves made in a win over Cal, marking the second most single-game saves made by a Trojan. Longan joins Olympian Bernice Orwig as the only other USC goalie to be named National Player of the Year. Orwig won it back in 1999, with Kami Craig earning the top honor in 2010 and Stephania Haralabidis claiming it in 2016. All three Women of Troy would go on to win the Cutino Award — considered the Heisman Trophy of water polo — in the same season. For co-captain Longan, her All-America First Team status this season goes along with the same honor earned in 2016 when the Trojans last won the NCAA crown, and a Third Team selection from 2017.
Longan is not the only Trojan to vie for the Heisman of water polo, however. Freshman Paige Hauschild is also up for the 2018 Cutino Award, and she also shares a spot with Longan on the All-America First Team. In her first season as a Trojan, Hauschild pumped in 68 goals — the most ever scored by a USC true freshman. Twenty-five of those goals came against top-five opponents, and deservedly so she would pick up the MPSF Newcomer of the Year award. Also an All-MPSF Second Team honoree, Hauschild scored in every game but one, notching 19 multiple-goal efforts that included a seven-goal outburst. Hauschild's defensive savvy was almost as powerful as her offensive abilities, it turned out. Of her numerous steals nabbed on the year, it was the final one by Hauschild that helped set USC off on a counterattack that produced the game-winning goal in the NCAA final. She'd rightly earn a place on the NCAA All-Tournament First Team for her all-around efforts.
Year two at USC for Netherlands native Maud Megens had a tough start as the sophomore would wind up sidelined by injury for 10 games early in the year, but Megens would come back with a vengeance as she produced 2.2 goals per game across her 17 appearances. Megens' 37 goals scored on the year was fourth most on the team and ran her career total to 95 as she caps her second season as a Trojan. Megens earned MPSF Tournament MVP status after knocking in four goals in USC's overtime win over Stanford in the conference title match. She also was named to the All-MPSF First Team, and has now upgraded last year's All-America Second Team selection to a deserved All-America First Team pick this year. Megens also was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Second Team for the second time.
A captain for the third season, senior Brianna Daboub proved to be the rock of the team in 2018. USC's third leading scorer on the year with 38 goals, she scored 16 goals against top-five opponents, including the opening goal for the Trojans in the 2018 NCAA final. Now an All-American Second Team selection, Daboub was named to the NCAA All-Tournament First Team and was an All-MPSF Second Team honoree. Along the way, Daboub ballooned her career scoring total to 129 goals to wrap her Trojan career at No. 17 all-time on USC's scoring charts. Also a three-time MPSF Scholar-Athlete, Daboub stands out now as a three-time All-American, adding her 2018 All-America Second Team status to Honorable Mention claimed in 2016 and 2017.
Another hard-working senior leader for the Trojans is Canadian National Teamer Hayley McKelvey, who has secured her first career All-America honor with her well-earned spot on the All-America Third Team. A fierce defender, McKelvey also came up with clutch offensive outings in her final season, drumming up 31 goals. In the MPSF Tournament final, McKelvey whipped up a career-high four goals to help charge the Trojans up for that title while scoring a spot on the MPSF All-Tournament Team. A first-time All-American, McKelvey also earned her first All-MPSF award with Honorable Mention this season. She finishes her Trojan career with 111 career goals to rank No. 26 all-time on USC's scoring list.
USC's youth movement is reflected further by sophomore Denise Mammolito, who churned out three enormous goals for the Trojans in the NCAA Championship. No stranger to scoring, Mammolito was USC's second leading scorer in her second season at Troy, producing 43 goals for the Trojan cause in 2018. Fourteen of those came against top-five opponents. Mammolito's 2018 All-America Honorable Mention is her first award of the season, going along with her 2017 honor on the MPSF All-Newcomer Team.
2018 ACWPC Awards
National Player of the Year
Amanda Longan
National Coach of the Year
Jovan Vavic
All-America First Team
Amanda Longan
Paige Hauschild
Maud Megens
All-America Second Team
Brianna Daboub
All-America Third Team
Hayley McKelvey
All-America Honorable Mention
Denise Mammolito
USC's 2018 NCAA Championship marked the 15th national title won by USC head coach Jovan Vavic, who runs both the men's and women's programs. On the women's side, this latest crown was the sixth national championship for the Women of Troy and the 105th NCAA team title for USC overall. In his 24th season at the helm, Vavic saw his USC women post a remarkable 26-1 overall record, ending the year on a 16-game win streak as the Trojans captured the 2018 title in home waters at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Vavic's career record on the women's side now stands at 571-147 as he follows up his 2018 MPSF Coach of the Year pick with this 2018 National Coach of the Year honor — the sixth time he has swept those awards on the women's side. In all, Vavic has been named National Coach of the Year 14 times — six with the women and eight with the men.
Also a finalist for the Peter J. Cutino Award — to be announced June 2 — junior goalie Amanda Longan rose to the occasion on all counts in helping her Trojans in their run to the 2018 NCAA Championship. Crowned the MPSF Player of the Year and standing as USC's No. 3 all-time saves leader with 590 saves collected in three seasons of work as a Trojan, Longan has run her career count of double-digit save effort to 33 after making 10 stops in the 2018 national championship game. Named the NCAA Tournament MVP, she'd finish the season with 214 saves, averaging 11.03 per game and allowing just 5.24 goals-against per game to back up a stingy USC defense. Along the way, Longan manned the cage through back-to-back shutouts and also set a new career high with 18 saves made in a win over Cal, marking the second most single-game saves made by a Trojan. Longan joins Olympian Bernice Orwig as the only other USC goalie to be named National Player of the Year. Orwig won it back in 1999, with Kami Craig earning the top honor in 2010 and Stephania Haralabidis claiming it in 2016. All three Women of Troy would go on to win the Cutino Award — considered the Heisman Trophy of water polo — in the same season. For co-captain Longan, her All-America First Team status this season goes along with the same honor earned in 2016 when the Trojans last won the NCAA crown, and a Third Team selection from 2017.
Longan is not the only Trojan to vie for the Heisman of water polo, however. Freshman Paige Hauschild is also up for the 2018 Cutino Award, and she also shares a spot with Longan on the All-America First Team. In her first season as a Trojan, Hauschild pumped in 68 goals — the most ever scored by a USC true freshman. Twenty-five of those goals came against top-five opponents, and deservedly so she would pick up the MPSF Newcomer of the Year award. Also an All-MPSF Second Team honoree, Hauschild scored in every game but one, notching 19 multiple-goal efforts that included a seven-goal outburst. Hauschild's defensive savvy was almost as powerful as her offensive abilities, it turned out. Of her numerous steals nabbed on the year, it was the final one by Hauschild that helped set USC off on a counterattack that produced the game-winning goal in the NCAA final. She'd rightly earn a place on the NCAA All-Tournament First Team for her all-around efforts.
Year two at USC for Netherlands native Maud Megens had a tough start as the sophomore would wind up sidelined by injury for 10 games early in the year, but Megens would come back with a vengeance as she produced 2.2 goals per game across her 17 appearances. Megens' 37 goals scored on the year was fourth most on the team and ran her career total to 95 as she caps her second season as a Trojan. Megens earned MPSF Tournament MVP status after knocking in four goals in USC's overtime win over Stanford in the conference title match. She also was named to the All-MPSF First Team, and has now upgraded last year's All-America Second Team selection to a deserved All-America First Team pick this year. Megens also was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Second Team for the second time.
A captain for the third season, senior Brianna Daboub proved to be the rock of the team in 2018. USC's third leading scorer on the year with 38 goals, she scored 16 goals against top-five opponents, including the opening goal for the Trojans in the 2018 NCAA final. Now an All-American Second Team selection, Daboub was named to the NCAA All-Tournament First Team and was an All-MPSF Second Team honoree. Along the way, Daboub ballooned her career scoring total to 129 goals to wrap her Trojan career at No. 17 all-time on USC's scoring charts. Also a three-time MPSF Scholar-Athlete, Daboub stands out now as a three-time All-American, adding her 2018 All-America Second Team status to Honorable Mention claimed in 2016 and 2017.
Another hard-working senior leader for the Trojans is Canadian National Teamer Hayley McKelvey, who has secured her first career All-America honor with her well-earned spot on the All-America Third Team. A fierce defender, McKelvey also came up with clutch offensive outings in her final season, drumming up 31 goals. In the MPSF Tournament final, McKelvey whipped up a career-high four goals to help charge the Trojans up for that title while scoring a spot on the MPSF All-Tournament Team. A first-time All-American, McKelvey also earned her first All-MPSF award with Honorable Mention this season. She finishes her Trojan career with 111 career goals to rank No. 26 all-time on USC's scoring list.
USC's youth movement is reflected further by sophomore Denise Mammolito, who churned out three enormous goals for the Trojans in the NCAA Championship. No stranger to scoring, Mammolito was USC's second leading scorer in her second season at Troy, producing 43 goals for the Trojan cause in 2018. Fourteen of those came against top-five opponents. Mammolito's 2018 All-America Honorable Mention is her first award of the season, going along with her 2017 honor on the MPSF All-Newcomer Team.
2018 ACWPC Awards
National Player of the Year
Amanda Longan
National Coach of the Year
Jovan Vavic
All-America First Team
Amanda Longan
Paige Hauschild
Maud Megens
All-America Second Team
Brianna Daboub
All-America Third Team
Hayley McKelvey
All-America Honorable Mention
Denise Mammolito
USC Water Polo's Emily Ausmus | Trojans Live 3.24.25
Monday, March 24
Women's Water Polo - Stanford 8, USC 3: Highlights (5/10/24)
Friday, May 10
Julia Janov - 2024 NCAA Women's Water Polo Banquet speech
Thursday, May 09
Women's Water Polo - Stanford 12, USC 11: Highlights (4/28/24)
Sunday, April 28
