No. 3 Women’s Water Polo Back On The Road To Face Long Beach State

Saturday, February 7

Long Beach, Calif.

12:00 p.m.

USC

Long Beach State

Photo by: William Fosnot

No. 3 Women’s Water Polo Back On The Road To Face Long Beach State

February 04, 2026 | Women's Water Polo

LOS ANGELES - Following a strong weekend that saw the USC women's water polo team finish as runner-up at the Triton Invitational, the Trojans are back on the road Saturday. They will face Long Beach State in a rematch of last week's Triton Invitational semifinal.

Schedule
Saturday
#3 USC (8-1) vs. #7 Long Beach State (7-4) - 12:00 p.m.

Last Time Out
USC headed south this past weekend to compete in the Triton Invitational, where they opened with a dominant 23-4 win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, jumping out early and never looking back. Meghan McAninch led the way with five goals, while the Trojans held the Athenas to just one goal in the first half.

The next day, USC came out on top with an 11-8 win over host No. 12 UC San Diego, using a strong second half and three third-quarter goals from Emily Ausmus to secure its seventh straight victory.

The Trojans followed with a 15-11 win over No. 7 Long Beach State, overcoming an early deficit behind a second hat trick of the day from Emily Ausmus and a strong defensive third quarter that held The Beach scoreless. USC added three late goals to secure a spot in the championship game for the second straight season.

The Women of Troy closed the weekend against No. 3 UCLA, outscoring the Bruins 5-4 in the first quarter but ultimately falling short after the defensive first half.

The weekend built on USC's strong start to the season, which included home wins over No. 18 UC Santa Barbara (23-4) and Biola (21-12), followed by a 22-8 road win over No. 21 San Diego State.

History
USC and Long Beach State first met in 1998 and the Trojans have come out on top in all 33 matchups. The most recent game between the two was last weekend at the Triton Invitational, with USC claiming a 15-11 victory over the then-ranked No. 7 team.

Rankings
USC became the No. 3 ranked team in the national rankings in the most recent CWPA poll after a 3-1 weekend including wins over two ranked opponents.

Cage Command
Anna Reed has been the starting keeper for the Women of Troy in eight of the first nine games of the season. The redshirt-sophomore has tallied three double digit save performances so far this season. Reed has also held opponents to single digit scoring in five outings.

All Out Attack
USC's scoring has been on fire to start the 2026 campaign. Through the first nine games, the Trojans have tallied 20-plus goals in four contests. Meghan McAninch leads the squad with 22 goals and 37 total points, while Emily Ausmus is close behind with 19. Eight Women of Troy have already surpassed the 10-goal mark on the young season.

Trojan Personnel
The 2026 squad will be led by two captains– sophomore attacker Emily Ausmus and senior attacker Maggie Johnson. Ausmus had a stellar start to her collegiate career, racking up a program single season record 114 goals. The Riverside, Calif. native had a team high 31 multiple-goal outings and was named a Cutino Award finalist along with a member of the All-America First Team, MPSF Newcomer of the Year, All-MPSF First Team, MPSF All-Tournament Team and MPSF All-Newcomer Team.

Johnson is in her third season as a captain for the USC women's water polo team. The senior out of La Jolla, Calif. scored 23 goals and recorded four multiple-goal outings. Johnson led the MPSF in assists with 58 to cap off a strong 2025 season.

All-American Returners
The Trojans return three All-Americans to the roster for the new year in Ausmus, Rachel Gazzaniga and Ava Stryker.

Gazzaniga was named to the All-America Third Team following a sophomore season in which she scored 46 goals. Gazzaniga posted 13 multiple-goal outings and tacked on 21 assists, 36 drawn exclusions and 34 steals.

Stryker recorded 72 goals, good for third on the team, in the 2025 season. An All-American Honorable Mention, Stryker had multiple goals in 23 games and tallied 41 steals.

Last Season
In 2025, Casey Moon's squad worked to a 29-5 record on its way to its 21st consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. The Trojans finished as national finalists at the tournament after defeating Harvard and UCLA to advance to the championship game against Stanford. USC improved to 5-1 in conference play to tie for first overall and went undefeated at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center.

Offensive Onslaught
USC scored a program record 576 goals from 17 different scorers just a season ago. Although the Trojans are losing Tilly Kearns who graduated as part of the Class of 2025, the squad returns four of their five leading scorers– Ausmus (114), Stryker (72), Meghan McAninch (47) and Gazzaniga (46).

They are joined by three other Trojans who each scored 20 or more goals in the 2025 campaign in Alma Yaacobi (43), Morgan Netherton (33) and Johnson (23).

New Kids On The Deck
Six newcomers will join a stacked squad for the 2026 campaign. Natalia Blazevic out of Vancouver, B.C. is the lone international freshman. Blazevic boasts international experience, competing as part of the Canadian Junior National Team at the 2024 PanAm Games.

The five other members of the incoming class all hail from California including three from Newport Beach. Ashley Kwan, Kara Carver, Kate Sloman, Payton Netherton and EJ Hourigan round out the group that looks to make an immediate impact for the Trojans.

International Experience
Ausmus, a 2024 Olympian, and McAninch competed with Team USA at the U20 World Championships in Salvador, Brazil over the summer. The pair returned to campus with gold medals as they helped the U.S. to its first U20 championship since 2015. Ausmus was named the MVP of the tournament after leading the team with 21 goals across six wins. McAninch was named Player of the Match in group play and scored six goals to help the United States win the title.

Sinia Plotz was Germany's top scorer at the 2025 FISU World University Games. Plotz served as team captain and helped lead the host country to victory. The senior utility player scored 13 goals across the event held in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany, including a hat trick in the championship match.

Ausmus, Gazzaniga and Stryker all competed at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore for Team USA where the Americans reached the semifinal round.