Men's Water Polo Hosts California In MPSF Action
October 08, 2002 | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 8, 2002
LOS ANGELES - The No. 3 USC men's water polo team (12-3, 2-0) will host No. 4 California (7-3, 0-1) in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match on Saturday (Oct. 12) at 1 p.m. at McDonald's Swim Stadium.
LAST WEEK - The Trojans took second place at the Nor-Cal Tournament in Berkeley. USC lost to UCLA, 6-3, in the tournament championship after defeating No. 1 Stanford, 8-6, earlier in the day.
JOVAN VAVIC - In his eighth 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 has a 30-year water polo career. In addition to his coaching experience, he was a member of a Yugoslavian club team that was a four-time junior national champion (1973-74-76-77). Jovan also played for the Monte-Negro State team, which won the Yugoslav Nationals in 1977 and 1978.
VAVIC'S CAREER RECORD - Jovan Vavic has a 159-38 (.807) record in eight years with the Trojans.
BOZIDAR DAMJANOVIC - Junior Bozidar Damjanovic (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) is the Trojans' No. 1 goalie. After recording 83 saves in 16 matches as a freshman in 2000, Damjanovic recorded 138 saves in 20 games as a 2001 sophomore. This season, he has 111 saves in 15 matches, including 12 against Pepperdine on Sept. 15 at the So-Cal Tournament.
JARAJ ZATOVIC - Freshman two-meter defender Jaraj Zatovic (Bratislava, Slovakia) leads the team with 27 goals this season. Zatovic led the Trojans to a 10-8 overtime win against No. 3 UCLA with four goals on Sept. 28 at McDonald's Swim Stadium. He scored the game-tying goals in the fourth and first overtime periods of the match.
GADI HADAR - Junior driver Gadi Hadar (Kibutz-Givat-Haim-Icud, Israel) is second on the team in scoring with 21 goals this season. He led the Trojans with a team-high four on Sept. 7 in a 17-4 win against Air Force and scored the game-winner on Sept. 22 in an upset 8-7 win against No. 2 UC Irvine.
STEPHEN LIPINSKI - Sophomore utility transfer Stephen Lipinski (Palo Alto/Loyola Marymount) is third on the team with 18 goals. Lipinski scored five goals on Sept. 21-22, including a team-high two on Sept. 22 in an 8-7 upset win against No. 2 UC Irvine.
PREDRAG DAMJANOV - Junior two-meter Predrag Damjanov (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) returns for the Trojans after garnering All-America honorable mention honors last season. Damjanov was second on the team with 29 goals. This season, he is fourth in scoring with 17 goals.
