Men's Water Polo Prepares For MPSF Championships
November 21, 2000 | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 21, 2000
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LOS ANGELES -- The No. 2 USC men's water polo team (19-4 overall, 6-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) will be the No. 3 seed at the MPSF Championships this week at the USA Water Polo National Aquatic Center in Los Alamitos. USC earned the seed based on its third-place finish in conference play. The Trojans will face the No. 6-seeded Pepperdine Waves at 2:30 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 24). The winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships at Pepperdine University (Dec. 2-3).
LAST WEEK -- The Trojans suffered a 6-5 loss Saturday at UCLA in a non-conference match to close out the 2000 regular season.
RANKINGS -- USC is ranked No. 2 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 20 Poll as of Nov. 15.
NOTES & STATS -- The Trojans have outscored their opponents this season by a 192-132 margin...In the third period this season, USC has outscored opponents by a 54-29 margin...USC scored a season-high 17 goals on Oct. 21 against Santa Clara...the team has also scored 12 goals two times (9/15 vs. UC Davis and 9/16 vs. Navy)...the Trojans reached the championship match at the Southern California Tournament for the ninth straight year and won the tournament for the third time...in the Trojans' season opener on Sept. 9 against Long Beach State, USC rallied from a three-goal deficit by scoring four unanswered goals in the final 7:41 for the 7-6 victory.
JOVAN VAVIC -- In his sixth season as the head coach of the men's water polo program, Jovan Vavic has built the Trojans into a national power, which culminated with the 1998 national championship. Vavic came to USC as an assistant men's water polo coach to John Williams in 1992 and was named co-head coach in 1995. He took over the reins as head coach in 1999 when Williams retired. Vavic is also the head coach for the USC women's water polo team. During the 1998-99 season, Vavic did something no other coach has accomplished as his teams won three national championships: besides capturing the 1998 men's and 1999 women's titles, his 1999 men's club team won the Men's Senior National Club Championship.
VAVIC'S CAREER RECORD -- Jovan Vavic has a 129-28 (.822) record in six years with the Trojans.
FANTASTIC FRESHMEN -- Two freshmen have made an immediate impact on the team. Freshman two-meter Tim Wollthan (Kiefeld, Germany) leads the team with 30 goals. Wollthan registered a team-high four goals on Oct. 22 in a 11-9 loss against UCLA in the championship match at the Nor-Cal Tournament in Stockton and recorded three goals in the Trojans' 7-6 win at No. 4 UC Irvine on Sept. 23. Freshman Predrag Damjanov (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) is fifth on the team with 24 goals this season. Damjanov, a two-meter player, may also be one of the biggest players in the nation, weighing in at 6-6 and 250 pounds.
WOLLTHAN EARNS RECOGNITION -- Freshman Tim Wollthan was named Mikasa MPSF Player of the Week on Sept. 27. He earned the award after recording three goals in the Trojans' 7-6 win at No. 4 UC Irvine on Sept 23 and two goals in a 7-5 win at No. 7 UC San Diego on Sept. 24.
DANIEL LONTAY -- Junior utility Daniel Lontay (Budapest, Hungary) is second on the team with 27 goals. He was the leading scorer with two goals in the Trojans' win on Sept. 17 (5-4) over UCLA at the Southern California Tournament in Corona del Mar.
IVAN BABIC -- Junior utility Ivan Babic (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) is a two-time All-American for the Trojans. Babic is tied for third on the team with 26 goals. He recorded 31 points last season for the Trojans (28 goals and three two-pointers).
GEORGE CSASZAR -- Senior driver George Csaszar (Budapest, Hungary) is a two-time All-American for the Trojans. Csaszar is tied for third on the team with 26 goals. He led the Trojans to a come-from-behind win on Sept. 9 in the season opener against Long Beach State. Down by three goals late in the third quarter, he keyed a comeback with an end-to-end drive and a goal in USC's 7-6 victory. Csaszar earned third team All-American honors last season and was second on the team with 35 points (34 goals and one two-pointer).
STEVER O'ROURKE -- Senior driver Stever O'Rourke (Huntington Beach/Marina HS) has been a quiet leader this season. O'Rourke has 21 goals this season and recorded a career-high five goals on Nov. 5 in a 11-6 win over Stanford.
