Men's Water Polo Season Wrapup
December 04, 2000 | Men's Water Polo
Dec. 4, 2000
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LOS ANGELES -- The USC men's water polo team (23-5 overall, 7-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) completed its 2000 season with a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships last weekend at Pepperdine University. The Trojans suffered a 9-8 loss in the national semifinal against UC San Diego, but rallied the next day with a 15-9 win over Navy in the third-place match.
NOTES & STATS -- The Trojans outscored their opponents this season by a 239-168 margin...In the third period this season, USC outscored opponents by a 70-39 margin...USC scored a season-high 17 goals on Oct. 21 against Santa Clara...the team also scored 15 goals against Navy on Dec. 3 in the third-place match at the NCAA Championships...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 134-28 (.827) record in six years with the Trojans.
GEORGE CSASZAR -- Senior driver George Csaszar (Budapest, Hungary) is a two-time All-American for the Trojans. Csaszar tied for fourth on the team with 30 goals and earned All-MPSF first team honors this season. 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).
IVAN BABIC -- Junior utility Ivan Babic (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) is a two-time All-American for the Trojans. Babic led the team with 40 goals this season and earned All-MPSF second team honors. Babic finished the season with a six-goal performance on Dec. 3 against Navy, the most goals recorded by a Trojan in 2000. He recorded 31 points last season for the Trojans (28 goals and three two-pointers).
FANTASTIC FRESHMEN -- Two freshmen made an impact on the team this season. Freshman two-meter Tim Wollthan (Kiefeld, Germany) finished second on the team with 36 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) finished third on the team with 31 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) finished in a tie for fourth on the team with 30 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.
STEVER O'ROURKE -- Senior driver Stever O'Rourke (Huntington Beach/Marina HS) was a quiet leader this season. O'Rourke scored a career-high 25 goals this season and recorded a career-high five goals on Nov. 5 in a 11-6 win over Stanford.
