Men's Water Polo Opens MPSF Play This Weekend
September 16, 2002 | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 16, 2002
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LOS ANGELES - The No. 2 USC men's water polo team (6-2) will begin Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play on Saturday (Sept. 21) at Long Beach State (4-4) at noon and then will host UC Irvine (4-1) in non-conference action on Sunday (Sept. 22) at McDonald's Swim Stadium, also at noon.
LAST WEEK - The Trojans took sixth place at the So-Cal Tournament, held at McDonald's Swim Stadium. USC went 2-2 in the tournament with wins over Loyola Marymount (7-4) and Pepperdine (12-7) and losses to Pacific (8-7) and UCLA (9-7 in overtime).
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 153-37 (.805) record in eight years with the Trojans.
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 tied for third with Stephen Lipinski with 10 goals.
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 58 saves in six matches, including 12 against Pepperdine on Sept. 15 at the So-Cal Tournament.
LEADING THE WAY - Junior driver Gadi Hadar (Kibutz-Givat-Haim-Icud, Israel) and freshman two-meter Jaraj Zatovic (Bratislava, Slovakia) lead the team with 13 goals this season.
