Friday, February 23
Irvine, CA
12:30 PM
USC
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San Jose State
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Photo by: Jorge Daboub
No. 3 USC Looks For Third Straight Barbara Kalbus Invite Title
February 21, 2018 | Women's Water Polo, Features
Trojans have won back-to-back championships at the event, opening this year's tourney vs. San José State on Friday.
THIS WEEK
USC sets up defense of another tournament title this week, setting up shop in Irvine for action at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational as back-to-back defending champion. For this year's event, hosted by UC Irvine, the No. 3 Trojans (7-0) open up against San José State at 12:30 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 23). A win that day would put USC up against the winner of Friday's Arizona State/UC San Diego clash at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday (Feb. 24) to play for a spot in a 5:15 p.m. semifinal that evening. Placement games will be held on Sunday (Feb. 25), culminating in a 1 p.m. championship game.
USC IN THE RANKINGS
USC kicked off 2018 ranked No. 2 in the national preseason poll and tied for third in the MPSF preseason poll. USC has bounced between No. 2 and No. 3 in recent weeks, and is currently ranked No. 3 the nation in the latest national poll (released Feb. 21).
BARBARA KALBUS INVITATIONAL NOTES
This year's edition of the competitive UCI Invitational — renamed last year as the Barbara Kalbus Invitational in honor of longtime friend and water polo icon Dr. Barbara Kalbus, who was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2013 and who passed away in 2016. This year's tournament features 16 top-20 teams, including all six MPSF teams in USC, UCLA, California, Stanford, San José State and Arizona State. The teams are arranged into groups of four teams, as follows:
Group A:Â #1 Stanford, #8 Pacific, #9 Michigan, #19 Long Beach State
Group B:Â #2 California, #7 UC Irvine, #11 LMU, #19 CSUN
Group C:Â #3 USC, #6 Arizona State, #15 UC San Diego, #18 San José State
Group D:Â #4 UCLA, #5 Hawai'i, #14 San Diego State, #17 UC Santa Barbara
Last year, the Trojans made its second straight winning run at UC Irvine's tournament. USC opened with a 14-0 shutout of LMU on the first day of action, then beat Hawai'i 12-5 to move into the semis. Up against UCLA in the semifinal, USC was able to shrug off an early 3-2 deficit and more out ahead of the Bruins for a final 10-9 victory to seal a trip to the title match once again. In a rematch of the 2016 NCAA Championship game, USC was up against top-ranked Stanford, and the game lived up to its billing. The Cardinal tied up the game at the end of the third quarter and then again later in the fourth to bring up overtime. There, USC would issue back-to-back scores to take a lead in the first overtime frame. In the second, Stanford struck first, but USC struck last when it mattered, netting a blast from Ioanna Haralabidis to go up 10-9 with five seconds left, and USC would fend off the Cardinal for the win. Brianna Daboub led the scoring charge for USC with three goals, while Amanda Longan gathered in 12 saves to help keep the Cardinal at bay and secure back-to-back championships for the Trojans at the event.
FIVE-TIME TRITON TITLISTS
USC claimed its fifth straight championship at the Triton Invitational by capping off the event with a 6-4 win over rival UCLA in the title match. The Trojans never once trailed during the tournament, opening with a 13-1 win over Sonoma State and a 14-2 win over San Diego State in group play. In the semifinals, USC played a tighter match against UC Irvine, pulling away for a 7-5 win that sent the Trojans to the title match. During that semifinal win, senior captain Brianna Daboub notched her 100th career goal. Up against UCLA in the final, Paige Hauschild opened the scoring for the Trojans on a 6-on-5 finish. UCLA equalized, but junior goalie Amanda Longan made the stop on the Bruins' next try and then Daboub delivered for a 2-1 USC lead. That would do it for the first frame, but USC struck first again in the second. Kelsey McIntosh took the Trojans to a 3-1 lead before Longan roared to back-to-back blocks and then slammed away a UCLA 5-meter penalty try for a huge boost to the Trojan cause. UCLA moved it to a 3-2 margin by the end of the half, then equalized early in the third, only to see Daboub earn a 5-meter penalty that Denise Mammolito hammered home for a 4-3 USC advantage. In the fourth, Daboub zipped in her second of the game to go up 5-3. Next, Hauschild took a feed from Hayley McKelvey to pad out USC's lead to 6-3. The USC defense would shut down the next few UCLA offensive series, although the Bruins would convert with 3:05 to go, making it 6-4. The stalwart Trojan defense did the rest, as USC closed out the game as a 6-4 win that locked up the Trojans' fifth straight Triton Invitational crown. USC's staunch defense was anchored by goalies Victória Chamorro and Amanda Longan. Chamorro had 14 saves vs. Sonoma State and 13 in tehwin over UC Irvine, while Longan made 12 vs. SDSU before adding her 11 vs. the Bruins. Amanda Longan would lock up her first career selection as MPSF Player of the Week for her efforts, while Paige Hauschild claimed her second MPSF Newcomer of the Week award after emerging as USC's top scorer with 12 goals at the Triton Invitational.
SEASON OPENER
USC stormed out of the gates of the 2018 season in churning out an 18-0 shutout of No. 22 LMU in the first official action of the season at the UCLA Mini Invite. Behind seven saves from junior goalie Amanda Longan, the USC defense turned away 10 Lion power play opportunities to help lock up the shutout win and make it a 1-0 start to the year. Senior Hayley McKelvey drummed up four goals in the first period of play — all 6-on-5 finishes — to set the tone for the Trojan offensive onslaught. Freshman Paige Hauschild should tally her first goal as a Trojan during the first frame, while Kelsey McIntosh delivered her first of two goals on the day and Maud Megens started off on her path to an eventual game-high five goals for the Trojan cause. Up 7-0 after eight minutes of action, USC received two goals from senior captain Brianna Daboub, two more from Megens and the first career goal as a Trojan for freshman Verica Bakoc to lead it 12-0 by halftime. By the final buzzer, sophomore Denise Mammolito had joined the scoresheet, while Hauschild completed her debut hat trick and Megens round out her five-goal outing. After the impressive showing, Megens was named the MPSF Player of the Week, and Hauschild was selected MPSF Newcomer of the Week.Â
CLIMB ON
As the  2018 season rolls on, two seniors are making moves on the USC career scoring ladder. On Feb. 11, Brianna Daboub broke into the century club, scoring her 100th career goal. Since then, she's upped her career count to 102. Fellow senior Hayley McKelvey is also on the climb, holding 86 career goals to her name with an eye on hitting that century mark at Troy. On the defensive end, two USC goalies are on the rise on the all-time saves ladder. Senior Victória Chamorro ranks No. 4 all-time with 414 career saves, while junior Amanda Longan stands at No. 5 with 408.
2018 TROJANS AT A GLANCE
Five All-Americans and seven NCAA champions strong, the 2018 USC women's water polo roster has the experience and the skill to lock up another national championship. This year's arsenal of Trojans boasts a daunting blend of veterans and youth — all armed with the talent and savvy to propel USC to the top. Already ranked No. 2 in the land as the 2018 season gets underway, USC trains its focus on that NCAA trophy, which the Trojans last captured in 2016 in an undefeated run through that season. Back in the captains' roles for 2018 are two members of that title-winning team in All-Americans Brianna Daboub and Amanda Longan, who are leading a group of very hungry Women of Troy. Headlining this freshman class is U.S. National Team member Paige Hauschild, who is tabbed as a starter for the Trojans. A set of sophomores — Denise Mammolito, Maud Megens and Kelsey McIntosh are also in that mix, along with savvy seniors Daboub and Hayley McKelvey.Â
CAGE FIGHTERS
USC boasts a fearsome tagteam in the cage in All-American tandem Victória Chamorro and Amanda Longan. Both compete for their respective national teams — Chamorro as a 2016 Olympian with Brazil and Longan as a gold-medalist with Team USA at the recent 2017 FINA World Championships. The Trojan defense allowed just 4.59 goals per game last season, with both Chamorro and Longan averaging over 10 saves per game in the cage. This year, Longan made some Trojan history in anchoring back-to-back shutout wins over LMU and Cal Baptist. Longan is the only USC goalie to record back-to-back complete-game shutouts.
BACK ON THE ATTACK
A year's experience for last season's freshmen — Maud Megens, Kelsey McIntosh, Denise Mammolito, Elise Stein and Kaylee Brownsberger —  along with the leadership of 2016 NCAA champion seniors Victória Chamorro, Brianna Daboub, Hayley McKelvey and Annika Jensen and juniors Amanda Longan, Courtney Fahey and Brooke Presten will raise the bar again for the Trojans. As a true freshman, Megens was USC's second leading scorer with 58 goals. Daboub, McKelvey and Mammolito combined for an even 100 goals. Add to that the depth charge that U.S. National Team member Paige Hauschild and her fellow true freshmen bring for 2018, and USC's attack becomes well-rounded and dangerous. USC also has three new internationals in the water to diversify that attack. Canadians Verica Bakoc and Nina Ceklic are in the mix, along with New Zealand product Nadia Pavlovich. U.S. product Randi Reinhardt also stands out as a key addition to USC's rotation for 2018.
LAST SEASON
In 2017, the Trojans finished up 29-4 overall with a run to the 2017 NCAA semifinals in USC's 14th consecutive trip to the tourney. USC posted a 4-2 record in MPSF action and went on to claim third in the 2017 MPSF Tournament. The Trojans received a No. 3 seed into the NCAA Tournament, where USC was looking to win back-to-back national championships for the first time in program history. USC would go up against top-seeded Stanford in the semis, coming up just short of a trip to the final with an 11-10 loss. Stephania Haralabidis was USC's top scorer in 2017 with 84 goals. She'd be named a First Team All-American to close out her USC career. Freshman Maud Megens earned Second Team honors, while senior Brigitta Games and sophomore Amanda Longan were Third Team picks, and junior captain Brianna Daboub earned All-America Honorable Mention.•
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