University Southern California Trojans
No. 1 Trojans Face Tough Matches This Weekend
September 26, 2000 | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 26, 2000
LOS ANGELES -- The No. 1 USC men's water polo team (8-0 overall, 1-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) will travel to Stanford on Saturday (Sept. 30) in a MPSF match at 11 a.m. USC will then travel to California on Sunday (Oct. 1) for a non-conference match at noon.
LAST WEEK -- The Trojans are coming off wins at No. 4 UC Irvine (Sept. 23), 7-6, and at No. 7 UC San Diego (Sept. 24), 7-5. The win against UC Irvine was the first MPSF match of the season for the Trojans, now 1-0 in MPSF play.
RANKINGS -- USC is ranked No. 1 in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 20 Poll.
NOTES & STATS -- The Trojans have outscored their opponents this season by a 66-39 margin and have scored a season-high 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 119-23 (.838) record in six years with the Trojans.
IVAN BABIC -- Junior utility Ivan Babic (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) is a two-time All-American for the Trojans. Babic is tied with Tim Wollthan for second on the team with 10 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. 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).
FANTASTIC FRESHMEN -- Two freshmen have made an immediate impact on the team. Freshman Pedrag Damjanov (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) leads the Trojans with 11 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 295 pounds. Another two-meter player, Tim Wollthan (Kiefeld, Germany), is tied for second with Ivan Babic with 10 goals. Wollthan recorded three goals in the Trojans' 7-6 win at No. 4 UC Irvine on Sept. 23.
