No. 3 USC Turns To Take On No. 4 Hawaii
April 09, 2008 | Women's Water Polo
April 9, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
THIS WEEK: USC sets up for its final MPSF home game this week, as the No. 3 Trojans (15-6, 8-2 MPSF) take on No. 4 Hawai'i (14-5, 7-2) in a conference clash at 6 p.m. on Saturday (April 12). Stacked up at the No. 3 and No. 4 slots in the national rankings and the conference standings, the match is an important battle in the race for postseason seedings. Saturday will also mark the Trojans' Senior Day celebration, where USC will honor its graduating players.
RANKINGS: USC ranks No. 3 in the latest national poll. Hawai'i ranks No. 4 this week.
LAST WEEK: USC came away with a home split last weekend, falling just short of No. 2 Stanford in another overtime battle with the Cardinal and then turning around and swamping No. 9 San Jose State. Against Stanford, USC answered an early 3-0 Cardinal run with a four-goal streak to take the lead. USC led by one until Stanford tied it up in the final minute to force overtime, where the Cardinal took a lead and held on to win 8-7. USC goalie Tumua Anae tied her career high saves tally with 13 in the game. The following day, the USC defense shut out the Spartans in the second and third periods and provided consistent offense -- including a nine-goal scoring run that spanned all four periods -- while senior Miranda Nichols capped off the game by scoring all four USC goals in the four period. For the fifth time this season, 10 different Trojans scored in the match.
SCOUTING HAWAII: The No. 9 Rainbow Wahine are 14-5 overall and 7-2 in MPSF play -- just a step behind the Trojans -- after beating UC Irvine 13-9 last week. Kelly Mason leads the team in scoring with 39 goals for an average of 2.1 goals per game. Goalie Serena Bredin averages 7.6 saves and 7.6 goals against per game. This will be the first meeting between USC and Hawai'i this season. USC is 25-3 all-time against the Rainbow Wahine, having won the past three games includinga 14-7 win in the third-place game of last year's MPSF Tournament.
STEIN STRIKES AGAIN: Junior Michelle Stein stands as USC's leading scorer on the season with 42 goals. She had nine in four games at the UC Irvine Tournament, just a week after scoring seven goals in two games for the Trojans to help USC to a 2-0 start in MPSF play. Stein scored four of USC's final eight goals against UC Irvine and had a hat trick as USC avenged an earlier loss to ASU the next day. Recently, Stein had another seven-goal outing across two games, as USC beat Cal and Pacific on the road. After both those seven-goal weekends, Stein earned her first career honors as the MPSF Mikasa Co-Player of the Week, giving her two selections this season.
BALANCING ACTS: In the previous three seasons, the Trojans have tallied 18 different scorers each year. In game one of 2008, USC made a big early dent in that mark with 10 Women of Troy scoring in USC's opener against Hartwick on Feb. 2, hinting at another widespread scoring attack from the Trojans in the season to come. The next game proved the point, with another 10-player production to get two more Trojans on the scoring charts this season. USC has since hit the 10-scorer mark three more times -- against Pacific on March 9, vs. UC Santa Barbara on March 28 and against San Jose State on April 6. To date, 15 different Trojans have scored this year. USC is third in the MPSF in scoring, averaging 11.14 goals per game.
GETTING DEFENSIVE: The Trojans are just a breath out of the No. 1 slot in the conference's top defensive standings thanks to a strong stand in 2008. Behind a potent tag-team in the cage of goalies Tumua Anae and Whitney Morgan, and arguably the top defensive field players in the game -- Forel Davies and Miranda Nichols -- USC is averaging 5.57 goals against per game. Morgan and Anae also hover at top the MPSF in fewest goals allowed with 2.64 and 4.63 goals against per game, respectively.
TUMUA TAKES CONTROL: Sophomore goalie Tumua Anae claimed her first career award from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation on March 3, named the MPSF Mikasa Co-Player of the Week after another strong weekend in the cage. Anae put up big defensive numbers again in the cage for the Trojans, tallying 21 saves in just over six periods of play last week as USC ballooned its home win streak to 42 straight victories. She has hit her career best of 13 saves in four different games this year, and ranks third in the conference with 9.17 saves per game.
SENIOR STRIKER: After 21 games, senior Veronika Bartunkova has surpassed her previous best season goal total of 27 from last season. After a career-high five goals against UC Santa Barbara on March 28, Bartunkova punched in four the following day at San Diego State for a nine-goal weekend than earned the senior her first career honor as MPSF Player of the Week. She sits as USC's second leading scorer with 35 goals, having struck in 16 games so far this year, including 10 multiple-goal outings.
FOREL'S FAST: Sophomore Forel Davies has plenty of speed to go along with her defensive prowess and offensive abilities. She won eight of her nine opening sprints at the UC Irvine Invitational, including five straight in USC's semifinal overtime clash with Stanford. She's tallied 16 goals so far this season.
SECOND-YEAR SURGE: USC's sophomores have stepped up in their second seasons of action. Alexandra Kiss and Kally Lucas have scored 23 and 22 goals, respectively, putting Kiss on pace to hit last year's mark of 36 goals while Lucas has already bettered her freshman year total of 15. Fellow sophomores Forel Davies and Tumua Anae are key members of the Trojan defense, as Davies anchors a tough two-meter defense slot and Anae has been huge in the cage as USC's starting goalie.
CAPTAINS LOG: Senior captains Miranda Nichols and Julie Spataru set a high standard for the Trojans. Spataru has doubled her career scoring tally from the start of the season, having bettered her count of 13 goals in her first three seasons with 11 goals this season alone. Nichols stands out as one of the premier defensive players in the game, and also comes with solid offense for USC. She has struck in nine games -- all multiple-goal outings -- to hold 24 goals this season, upping her career total to 83 in her four seasons at Troy.
PUTTING THE "USC" IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: As the 2008 Olympic Games draw near, so does the promise of Olympic dreams for several Trojans. USC athletes comprise almost a third of the current U.S. women's national team roster, as Team USA preps for Beijing. USC junior Kami Craig is taking time off from the pool at Troy this year in order to work toward the games alongside five former Trojans: Patty Cardenas, Erika Figge, Brittany Hayes, Moriah Van Norman and Lauren Wenger. Team USA also boasts 1996 USC grad and 2000 Olympian Bernice Orwig as an assistant coach. Over the summer, USC sophomore Forel Davies joined Craig as a member of the U.S. Junior National Team at the 2007 Junior World Championships in Portugal. To keep up with the Women of Troy in their pursuit of Olympic gold, check back to usctrojans.com and also at usawaterpolo.org.
HOME POOL ADVANTAGE: After five straight undefeated seasons at McDonald's Swim Stadium, USC's home winning streak stretched out to 42 straight wins before UCLA edged out the Trojans 8-7 on March 14 of this season. UCLA had been the last team to beat USC at home before the streak began, when the Bruins claimed a 7-6 MPSF Semifinal win over the Trojans on April 27, 2002, when USC last hosted the MPSF Tournament. The Trojans went 7-0 at home in 2003, 7-0 in 2004, 8-0 in 2005, 9-0 in 2006 and 7-0 in 2007. USC is now 6-2 at home this season.
WHO'S BACK: Leading the Trojans into the 2008 season are a set of four experienced seniors ¬-- Veronika Bartunkova, Miranda Nichols, Alison Riddle and Julie Spataru -- as well as 2006 All-American goalie Whitney Morgan and 2007 MPSF All-Freshman picks Forel Davies and Alexandra Kiss. Also entering another year of action at Troy are juniors Jordan Anae and Michelle Stein and sophomores Tumua Anae and Kally Lucas.
WHO'S NEW: USC has added a stack of new talent to its 2008 roster, including a set of last year's redshirt players. The Trojans' redshirt freshman are Tekla Beckmann, Shauna Letvin and Rebecca McCall. And splashing down for their first seasons at Troy as true freshmen are Kristen Dronberger, Katie Indvik, Jessica Kutcher, Stephanie Lavayen, Courtney Ray, Lindsey Urquhart and Sarah Van Norman.
LAST SEASON: In 2007, USC finished third in the NCAA and MPSF tournaments, losing to eventual national champion UCLA by a single goal in the semifinals at both tournaments. The Trojans went 22-6 overall last season and were 10-2 in MPSF action. The Women of Troy also expanded their home win streak to 38 straight games with their fifth consecutive undefeated season at McDonald's Swim Stadium.
Players Mentioned
