USC Sets Up Defense Of NCAA Crown
May 09, 2011 | Women's Water Polo
May 9, 2011
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2011 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
THIS WEEK
Defending national champion USC sets off in hot pursuit of a fourth national title this week when the Women of Troy splash down in Ann Arbor, Mich., for competition at the 2011 NCAA Championships. The No. 4 seed in the eight-team field, USC is making its eighth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. This year, the Trojans (18-6) open up against No. 5 seed UC Irvine (21-8) at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday (May 13). A win there would put USC in the semifinals on Saturday (May 14) at 4:30 p.m. ET against either top-seeded Stanford (25-1) or No. 8 seed Iona (26-7). All placement games are set for Sunday (May 15), culminating in the national championship game at 4:30 p.m. ET.
NCAA NOTES
Including last year's run to the NCAA crown, USC has won three national championships in program history, with the first coming in 1999 before the NCAA sponsored women's water polo. In 2004, the Trojans posted the first-ever undefeated season on the way to capturing the 2004 NCAA title. In 2010, USC had five All-American seniors cap off their Trojan careers as national champions. USC finished third in 2005 and 2007 and placed second in 2006, 2008 and 2009. This year marks USC's eighth consecutive NCAA appearance and seventh overall, as the Trojans hold a 15-5 all-time record in NCAA tournament play. In all, USC has reached five title matches in its previous seven tournament appearances. In the past eight years, it has been either UCLA or USC that has claimed the national championship.
THIS TIME LAST YEAR
USC had taken two losses in its previous four games on the way into last year's NCAA Championships, holding a 22-3 record before starting up its push to its fifth NCAA title match appearance in seven tries. The Trojans were the No. 2 seeds in 2010, going up first against Marist and posting a 20-5 win. In the semis, USC beat LMU 10-6 to face top-seeded Stanford in the final. The Trojans pushed ahead by four during the fourth period of play against the Cardinal, holding on against a late push to grab a 10-9 win that locked in USC as the 2010 National Champions. Senior Kami Craig was named the NCAA Tournament MVP, with seniors Tumua Anae and Forel Davies and junior Kristen Dronberger also named to the NCAA All-Tournament First Team. USC finished the year with a 25-3 overall record.
BRACKET BREAKDOWN
This year's NCAA championship field of eight marks the first appearance of a team out of the Big West Conference. The conference tournament champions California (MPSF), UC San Diego (WWPA), Indiana (CWPA) and UC Irvine (Big West) are joined by three at-large teams -- USC, UCLA and Stanford out of the MPSF -- as well as the winner of a play-in match between the tournament champs from the SCIAC and the MAAC -- Redlands and Iona, respectively.This year's seedings stand as No. 1 Stanford (25-1), No. 2 Cal (24-4), No. 3 UCLA (24-6), No. 4 USC (18-6), No. 5 UC Irvine (21-8), No. 6 Indiana (25-11) and No. 7 UC San Diego (17-18). The No. 8 seed was determined by the play-in game between Redlands and Iona, with Iona winning to clinch the trip to Michigan and take the No. 8 seed with a 26-7 overall record.
TROJANS TO DATE
This season, a relatively young USC team is under the guidance of 2010 National Coach of the Year Jovan Vavic, who has his 2011 team led by two-time senior All-Americans Joelle Bekhazi and Kristen Dronberger, and with freshman goalie Flora Bolonyai in the cage. Along with Bekhazi and Dronberger, 11 players return from USC's 2010 NCAA championship roster --- seniors Sarah Van Norman and backup goalie Courtney Ray, juniors Nadia Dan and Kara-Leigh Huse, and sophomores Constance Hiller, Patricia Jancso, Nicolina McCall, Blair Moody and Dominique Sardo. Gone are five 2010 All-Americans who graduated from last year's championship roster, although the Trojans have reloaded with some strong freshman talent this year, adding Bolonyai in goal along with field players Kaleigh Gilchrist, Colleen O'Donnell and Madeline Rosenthal in the mix for their first NCAA action this week. The 2011 Trojans finished fifth in the MPSF Tournament, as the No. 5 seeds beat No. 3 seed Hawai'i in the fifth-place game. USC will carry an 18-6 overall record into the 2011 NCAA Tournament, looking for the program's 14th consecutive 20-win season and aiming for a fourth national championship to go along with one in 1999, an undefeated run in 2004, and last year's 2010 NCAA crown.
MPSF RUNDOWN
USC finished fifth at the 2011 MPSF Championships two weeks ago after rebounding from a loss to UCLA in the first round by pinning up wins over Arizona State and Hawai'i. The No. 5 seeded Trojans made life difficult for themselves with slow starts in its first two games, but were able to play strong second halves in all three games at the tourney. USC's rough start against No. 4 seed UCLA, however, could not be solved by an improved second half, and the Trojans took a 12-10 loss to the Bruins to move out of contention for a conference crown. USC would fall behind early against No. 8 seed ASU as well, but the Trojans regrouped to pull out a 10-9 comeback win and step into the fifth-place game against No. 3 seed Hawai'i. USC would have to fight out of a two-goal hole against the Rainbow Wahine in order to roll on to the win, netting an 8-7 victory to wrap up the tournament on a winning note and keep hold of an at-large slot in the NCAA Tournament. Joelle Bekhazi followed up a career-high five goals against UCLA with a hat trick in the win over Hawai'i to earn the senior a spot on the MPSF All-Tournament Team.
SENIORS AT THE CENTURY MARK
USC seniors Joelle Bekhazi and Kristen Dronberger joined the century club at Troy with their 100th career goals scored this season. Both are making a push to crack the all-time top-10. Bekhazi is just ahead at No. 11 in the climb, holding 131 career goals to date to stand six goals shy of No. 10. Dronberger is poised to climb up to No. 13 if she adds three goals to her current count of 116. Both Trojans are already two-time All-Americans, and both recently were named to the 2011 All-MPSF Second Team.
STAT SHEET
As a team, USC ranks fourth in the conference on the offensive end and fifth in defense. Having outscored their competition 249-165 so far, the Trojans are averaging 10.71 goals per game offensively and 6.88 goals-against per game. The scoring leaders this year are all bunched up in the 30s. Patricia Jancso leads the way with 39 goals scored, followed closely by Joelle Bekhazi with 37, Kristen Dronberger with 36, and Nadia Dan with 34. Freshman goalie Flora Bolonyai is averaging 7.6 saves and 6.7 goals-against per game in her first year as a Trojan and boasts three MPSF Newcomer of the Week selections this season.
SPREAD THE WEALTH
With 16 different scorers this season, USC has distributed its offense among more Trojans than in any of the previous three years. Patricia Jancso and Nadia Dan have scored in 21 games apiece, Joelle Bekhazi has struck in 19, and Kristen Dronberger and Sarah Van Norman each have struck in 18.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Eleven of USC's 16 goal scorers in 2011 entered the year with no more than a single season of experience under their caps. But still, the Trojans' youth movement is making noise. Sophomores Patricia Jancso and Dominique Sardo were key parts of USC's run to the 2010 NCAA Championship as true freshmen. This year, Jancso is a leader in scoring again with 39 goals to date, and Sardo has bettered her first season's scoring total in tallying 19 goals to date in her second year. True freshman Madeline Rosenthal is next in line with 16 goals -- along with honors on the MPSF All-Freshman Team and an MPSF Newcomer of the Week award to her name -- and a freshman-sophomore combo of Kaleigh Gilchrist and Nicolina McCall also sit in double digits with 14 and 11 goals, respectively.
LAST SEASON
In 2010, the USC women emerged with their third national championship in beating top-seeded Stanford 10-9 in the 2010 NCAA Championship game. USC finished the year with a 25-3 overall record after going 6-1 in MPSF play with a second-place finish in the MPSF Tournament. USC's last NCAA title had come in 2004, and 2010 marked the Trojans' seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Kami Craig was named the Cutino Award winner for the second straight season, and Tumua Anae was the MPSF Player of the Year. That pair also led USC's All-American count for the season, with Craig becoming just the second Trojan to be named the National Player of the Year, joining 1999 honoree Bernice Orwig. Anae and junior Joelle Bekhazi were both First Team All-Americans along with Craig. Junior Kristen Dronberger was named to the Second Team, and senior Forel Davies was on the Third Team. That led in to a trio of Trojans earning Honorable Mention: seniors Alexandra Kiss and Kally Lucas and freshman Patricia Jancso. Jovan Vavic picked up his third selection as the National Women's Coach of the Year - each of which has followed national championships for his Women of Troy (1999, 2004 and 2010).
