No. 2 Women’s Water Polo Heads To Triton Invitational

Friday, January 30

San Diego, Calif.

8:00 a.m.

USC

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

Photo by: William Fosnot

No. 2 Women’s Water Polo Heads To Triton Invitational

January 28, 2026 | Women's Water Polo

Tournament Page

The Women of Troy are off to the Triton Invitational riding a five game win streak to open the 2026 season. The No. 2 USC women's water polo team will compete in four games across the weekend and enter the tournament as the top ranked team participating.

Schedule
Friday
#2 USC (5-0) vs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1-3) - 8:00 a.m.

Saturday
Game 1: #2 USC (5-0) vs. UC San Diego (4-1) OR UC Davis (3-3) at 8:30 a.m. OR 11:10
Game 2: #2 USC (5-0) vs. TBD at TBD

Sunday
#2 USC (5-0) vs. TBD at TBD

Tournament Bracket Information
BRACKET A
1. USC
2. UC San Diego
3. UC Davis
4. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

BRACKET B
1. UCLA
2. Arizona State
3. Michigan
4. Cal State Fullerton

BRACKET C
1. Hawai'i
2. UC Irvine
3. UC Santa Barbara
4. Concordia

BRACKET D
1. Long Beach State
2. Loyola Marymount
3. San Diego State
4. Pomona-Pitzer

History
The three teams in Bracket A with USC are Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, UC San Diego and UC Davis. The Trojans will face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps followed by either UC San Diego or UC Davis on Saturday.

USC and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps first met in 1995, and USC leads the all-time series 11-1. The Women of Troy have won the last seven matchups. The most recent game between the two teams was at the Triton Invitational in 2025, where the Trojans put up 30 goals and held the Athenas' to just eight in the game.

USC and UC San Diego have met 19 times, with the Trojans leading the series 15-4. USC has controlled the matchup in recent years, winning each of the last 15 meetings. The two teams last faced off at the 2020 Triton Invitational, where the Women of Troy secured a 14-11 win.

USC first faced UC Davis in 1996 and has since built a 10-4 edge in the all-time series. The Trojans enter the matchup riding a nine-game win streak against the Aggies. The most recent meeting took place at the 2025 Triton Invitational, where USC earned a 17-9 win.

Last Time Out
USC opened its home schedule on Friday night with a 23-4 win over No. 18 UC Santa Barbara. Meghan McAninch led the Trojans with a career-high five goals on seven shots and added two assists. Freshman Natalia Blazevic made an impact, scoring her first career hat trick.

The game also marked the season debuts of Emily Ausmas, Ava Stryker, and Rachel Gazzaniga, who returned after competing with the U.S. Women's National Team in European exhibition matches.

The Trojans closed the Friday doubleheader with a 21-12 win over Biola, continuing their strong start at home.

USC spread the scoring throughout the lineup and stayed in control in both games, finishing the weekend with two wins in front of the home crowd.

The Women of Troy hit the road the next day, traveling south to San Diego and came away with a 22-8 win over the No. 21 San Diego State Aztecs. The victory marked USC's third-ranked win of the season and extended its unbeaten streak to 5-0.

Maggie Johnson led the Trojans offensively, scoring four goals on six shots. The senior attacker tied her career high for the second time this season and now has 12 total points through five games.

In the cage, Anna Reed played the majority of the contest, recording seven saves while also adding a point. Redshirt sophomore Lauren Schneider saw nine minutes of action and finished with four saves.

McAninch wrapped up a stellar weekend with 10 goals and 16 total points across the weekend. Blazevic and Sofia Umeda added to the offensive attack as each recorded back to back games with a hat trick.

Rankings
USC remains the No. 2 ranked team in the national rankings after a 3-0 weekend including wins over two ranked opponents.

Trojan Personnel
The 2026 squad will be led by two captains– sophomore attacker Emily Ausmus and senior attacker Maggie Johnson. Ausmus had a stellar start to her collegiate career, racking up a program single season record 114 goals. The Riverside, Calif. native had a team high 31 multiple-goal outings and was named a Cutino Award finalist along with a member of the All-America First Team, MPSF Newcomer of the Year, All-MPSF First Team, MPSF All-Tournament Team and MPSF All-Newcomer Team.

Johnson is in her second season as a captain for the USC women's water polo team. The senior out of La Jolla, Calif. scored 23 goals and recorded four multiple-goal outings.

All-American Returners
The Trojans return three All-Americans to the roster for the new year in Ausmus, Rachel Gazzaniga and Ava Stryker.

Gazzaniga was named to the All-America Third Team following a sophomore season in which she scored 46 goals. Gazzaniga posted 13 multiple-goal outings and tacked on 21 assists, 36 drawn exclusions and 34 steals.

Stryker recorded 72 goals, good for third on the team, in the 2025 season. An All-American Honorable Mention, Stryker had multiple goals in 23 games and tallied 41 steals.

Last Season
In 2025, Casey Moon's squad worked to a 29-5 record on its way to its 21st consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. The Trojans finished as national finalists at the tournament after defeating Harvard and UCLA to advance to the championship game against Stanford. USC improved to 5-1 in conference play to tie for first overall and went undefeated at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center.

Offensive Onslaught
USC scored a program record 576 goals from 17 different scorers just a season ago. Although the Trojans are losing Tilly Kearns who graduated as part of the Class of 2025, the squad returns four of their five leading scorers– Ausmus (114), Stryker (72), Meghan McAninch (47) and Gazzaniga (46).

They are joined by three other Trojans who each scored 20 or more goals in the 2025 campaign in Alma Yaacobi (43), Morgan Netherton (33) and Johnson (23).

New Kids On The Deck
Six newcomers will join a stacked squad for the 2026 campaign. Natalia Blazevic out of Vancouver, B.C. is the lone international freshman. Blazevic boasts international experience, competing as part of the Canadian Junior National Team at the 2024 PanAm Games.

The five other members of the incoming class all hail from California including three from Newport Beach. Ashley Kwan, Kara Carver, Kate Sloman, Payton Netherton and EJ Hourigan round out the group that looks to make an immediate impact for the Trojans.

International Experience
Ausmus, a 2024 Olympian, and McAninch competed with Team USA at the U20 World Championships in Salvador, Brazil over the summer. The pair returned to campus with gold medals as they helped the U.S. to its first U20 championship since 2015. Ausmus was named the MVP of the tournament after leading the team with 21 goals across six wins. McAninch was named Player of the Match in group play and scored six goals to help the United States win the title.

Sinia Plotz was Germany's top scorer at the 2025 FISU World University Games. Plotz served as team captain and helped lead the host country to victory. The senior utility player scored 13 goals across the event held in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany, including a hat trick in the championship match.

Ausmus, Gazzaniga and Stryker all competed at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore for Team USA where the Americans reached the semifinal round.