University Southern California Trojans
Players Mentioned
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
D
/ Women's Water Polo
2M
/ Women's Water Polo
2M
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
2M
/ Women's Water Polo
D
/ Women's Water Polo
2M
/ Women's Water Polo
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
D
/ Women's Water Polo
D
/ Women's Water Polo
2M
/ Women's Water Polo
G
/ Women's Water Polo
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
G
/ Women's Water Polo
2M
/ Women's Water Polo
2M
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
G
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
G
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
Photo by: John McGillen
2020 USC Women's Water Polo Outlook
January 31, 2020 | Women's Water Polo, Features
USC opens 2020 ranked No. 1 in the land... and aims to stay there.
The role may be different, and the landscape of the season skewed in an Olympic year, but the scenery and the expectations for first-year USC head coach Marko Pintaric are indisputably familiar. In his 20 years at USC, where he's been on staff for 14 national championships and won one himself as a player, Pintaric knows well what it takes to build a winning team. And he has plenty of building blocks at his disposal in this year's USC women's water polo team.
"To be competitive you have to be balanced," Pintaric said. "We have plenty of returners who know the system, and we have strength at set and on the perimeter. Our defense is also looking good, and we have players who are great on the counterattack."
Admittedly, this 2020 season will be a unique one in that it is an Olympic year, so several teams across the nation will have players taking the season off in order to train and compete with their national teams in preparation for the Games. USC has four Women of Troy slated to sit out the collegiate season to pursue Olympic dreams, with All-Americans Alejandra Aznar (Spain), Paige Hauschild (USA) and Maud Megens (Netherlands) as well as Tilly Kearns (Australia) taking 2020 off. But the Trojan roster remains powerful for 2020, as evidenced by USC's No. 1 pick out of the seven teams the MPSF conference and No. 1 in the nation.
"The rankings show that other coaches see our potential," Pintaric said. "It's not going to be a common landscape as in previous years because of the Olympics. It's different, but challenging in a good way. It's going to be an exciting season to coach."
Even with the absence of that foursome for 2020, Pintaric still has at his disposal two All-Americans in captains Denise Mammolito and Kelsey McIntosh along with returning All-MPSF honoree Bayley Weber. USC has a talented blend of youth and experience, as sophomores Weber, Mireia Guiral and Grace Tehaney also were members of USC's 2019 NCAA roster that reached the title match in finishing out the year at 28-2 overall.
And along with Mammolito and McIntosh, USC has a set of four solid seniors with Kaylee Brownsberger and Elise Stein back for more along with redshirt junior goalie Holly Parker. They'll lead a batch of eight players slated for their first competition as Trojans.
"I'm very impressed with the senior leadership on this team," Pintaric said. "The team looks to our older group with respect. Everyone is working hard. It's really a fun group to coach in terms of effort."
Mammolito enters her senior season with 100 career goals to her name. She and fellow senior McIntosh can pack a one-two punch on the perimeter while also fueling USC's counterattack with solid defensive savvy. Sophomore Weber emerged as the top scorer at the summer's 2019 World University Games, so her offensive ability is no secret, either.
USC's attack force deepens further with three returning lefties in sophomore Tehaney and juniors Verica Bakoc and Sabrina Garabet. Add to that the "cannon" that Pintaric sees in the arm of senior Stein, and USC's depth charge becomes all the more fearsome. Then there's USC's returning two-meter threats. Now a sophomore, Guiral has a "sixth sense for earning ejections" according to Pintaric. Senior Brownsberger is back for more, having proven herself a tireless worker at set throughout her USC career. Nina Ceklic, Randi Reinhardt, Claire Haas and Julia Rozolis-Hill also bring experienced hands at set, while drivers Kari Jensen and Sophia Lucas also return to offer USC even more versatility on both ends.
As far as the new crew, USC welcomes a talented group of freshmen in line to cap up for their first minutes as Trojans, including redshirt freshmen Erin Tharp and Sophie Traversi. It's a well-rounded bunch, with goalies, attackers and defenders all in the mix. Alex Fellner is a quality hole guard, according to Pintaric, who also anticipates spring-admit Téa Poljak to be an impact player in the Trojan gameplan. Drivers Brooklyn Aguilera and Christina Crum are also showing promise to Pintaric. All in all, he sees great competitive drive in his newcomers. That most certainly extends to the last line of defense as well. Between the pipes, Avrey Larson, Carolyne Stern and Tharp have reported for duty into the USC goalie corps with veteran Parker. For a coach who has groomed more than his share of Olympic-caliber goalies, Pintaric's 2020 goalie group is certain to stand tall as the backbone for the Trojans.
"In this goalie group, they are all really competitive," Pintaric said. "With Holly's knowledge of the system and experiencing NCAAs, we see her as a general on defense. Erin and Carolyne are younger, but both have real strengths. Erin has an extra year of knowledge in our system, and Carolyne is a reputed young goalie with good size."
As for stepping up to the helm of the USC water polo program, Pintaric has confidence in his players and in the staff around him.
"There is great collaboration with Casey (Moon), Connor (Virjee) and myself," Pintaric said. "The transition has been smooth. We are implementing the system we've had. This team is great and practices have been great. We're looking forward to the competition to come."
"To be competitive you have to be balanced," Pintaric said. "We have plenty of returners who know the system, and we have strength at set and on the perimeter. Our defense is also looking good, and we have players who are great on the counterattack."
Admittedly, this 2020 season will be a unique one in that it is an Olympic year, so several teams across the nation will have players taking the season off in order to train and compete with their national teams in preparation for the Games. USC has four Women of Troy slated to sit out the collegiate season to pursue Olympic dreams, with All-Americans Alejandra Aznar (Spain), Paige Hauschild (USA) and Maud Megens (Netherlands) as well as Tilly Kearns (Australia) taking 2020 off. But the Trojan roster remains powerful for 2020, as evidenced by USC's No. 1 pick out of the seven teams the MPSF conference and No. 1 in the nation.
"The rankings show that other coaches see our potential," Pintaric said. "It's not going to be a common landscape as in previous years because of the Olympics. It's different, but challenging in a good way. It's going to be an exciting season to coach."
Even with the absence of that foursome for 2020, Pintaric still has at his disposal two All-Americans in captains Denise Mammolito and Kelsey McIntosh along with returning All-MPSF honoree Bayley Weber. USC has a talented blend of youth and experience, as sophomores Weber, Mireia Guiral and Grace Tehaney also were members of USC's 2019 NCAA roster that reached the title match in finishing out the year at 28-2 overall.
And along with Mammolito and McIntosh, USC has a set of four solid seniors with Kaylee Brownsberger and Elise Stein back for more along with redshirt junior goalie Holly Parker. They'll lead a batch of eight players slated for their first competition as Trojans.
"I'm very impressed with the senior leadership on this team," Pintaric said. "The team looks to our older group with respect. Everyone is working hard. It's really a fun group to coach in terms of effort."
Mammolito enters her senior season with 100 career goals to her name. She and fellow senior McIntosh can pack a one-two punch on the perimeter while also fueling USC's counterattack with solid defensive savvy. Sophomore Weber emerged as the top scorer at the summer's 2019 World University Games, so her offensive ability is no secret, either.
USC's attack force deepens further with three returning lefties in sophomore Tehaney and juniors Verica Bakoc and Sabrina Garabet. Add to that the "cannon" that Pintaric sees in the arm of senior Stein, and USC's depth charge becomes all the more fearsome. Then there's USC's returning two-meter threats. Now a sophomore, Guiral has a "sixth sense for earning ejections" according to Pintaric. Senior Brownsberger is back for more, having proven herself a tireless worker at set throughout her USC career. Nina Ceklic, Randi Reinhardt, Claire Haas and Julia Rozolis-Hill also bring experienced hands at set, while drivers Kari Jensen and Sophia Lucas also return to offer USC even more versatility on both ends.
As far as the new crew, USC welcomes a talented group of freshmen in line to cap up for their first minutes as Trojans, including redshirt freshmen Erin Tharp and Sophie Traversi. It's a well-rounded bunch, with goalies, attackers and defenders all in the mix. Alex Fellner is a quality hole guard, according to Pintaric, who also anticipates spring-admit Téa Poljak to be an impact player in the Trojan gameplan. Drivers Brooklyn Aguilera and Christina Crum are also showing promise to Pintaric. All in all, he sees great competitive drive in his newcomers. That most certainly extends to the last line of defense as well. Between the pipes, Avrey Larson, Carolyne Stern and Tharp have reported for duty into the USC goalie corps with veteran Parker. For a coach who has groomed more than his share of Olympic-caliber goalies, Pintaric's 2020 goalie group is certain to stand tall as the backbone for the Trojans.
"In this goalie group, they are all really competitive," Pintaric said. "With Holly's knowledge of the system and experiencing NCAAs, we see her as a general on defense. Erin and Carolyne are younger, but both have real strengths. Erin has an extra year of knowledge in our system, and Carolyne is a reputed young goalie with good size."
As for stepping up to the helm of the USC water polo program, Pintaric has confidence in his players and in the staff around him.
"There is great collaboration with Casey (Moon), Connor (Virjee) and myself," Pintaric said. "The transition has been smooth. We are implementing the system we've had. This team is great and practices have been great. We're looking forward to the competition to come."
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