USC Women’s Water Polo Heads To NCAA Championships

Friday, April 24

La Jolla, Calif.

6:00 p.m.

USC

LMU

Photo by: Katie Chin/USC Athletics

USC Women’s Water Polo Heads To NCAA Championships

April 22, 2026 | Women's Water Polo

LOS ANGELES – The USC women's water polo team is set for the final days of competition this weekend as the squad travels to La Jolla, Calif. for the NCAA Championships. The Women of Troy will kick off the weekend in the quarterfinals taking on the No. 6 seed LMU with the game set for 6:00 p.m..

NCAA Championship Seeding

Stanford (14-1)
UCLA (20-4)
USC (22-3)
California (14-7)
Hawaii (16-5)
LMU (23-4)
Harvard (26-3)
Wagner (15-12)
CUI (20-9)

Last Time Out
USC finished as the runner up in the MPSF title game, with a final score of 16-14 to the Stanford Cardinal after a back-and-forth battle. Ava Stryker opened the scoring on a 6-on-5 opportunity, and Meghan McAninch added a power-play goal later in the first, but Stanford carried a 4-2 lead into the second.

USC tightened things defensively in the second frame, holding the Cardinal to just one goal while adding two of its own to pull within one at halftime. The Trojans found their rhythm in the third, erupting for eight goals from seven different scorers to take a two-goal lead into the final period.

Stanford answered in the fourth, using a six-goal surge to regain control and close out the contest.

In the semifinal, the Trojans faced California and took a 17-14 victory in the high scoring affair. USC led the Bears by just one goal at the halftime break before pouring in five goals in the third frame to boost its lead. Both teams traded goals in the final quarter before the Trojans advanced to the MPSF final.

Road to the NCAA Tournament
USC heads into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 ranked team in the country. The Trojans went a perfect 6-0 in MPSF play and did not drop a game in their home pool (5-0) or on the road (8-0). They also picked up six wins against top-five teams, so they've been tested and delivered.

The offense has been consistent all year, with USC tallying over 400 goals as a team. A lot of that starts with ball movement, where Maggie Johnson leads the MPSF with 51 assists and Meghan McAninch sits right behind her with 46.

On the defensive side, USC has been just as solid. The Trojans have held opponents to single-digit scoring in 11 games this season, with Anna Reed anchoring things in the cage.

In the MPSF Tournament, USC opened with a win over No. 4 California Golden Bears women's water polo, pulling away in the second half behind strong counterattack play. In the championship, the Trojans faced Stanford Cardinal women's water polo in a rematch of last year's NCAA title game. It was back and forth the whole way, with USC putting togetherand eight goal third quarter, but Stanford answered late to take the win.

NCAA Tournament History
The 2026 selection marks the Trojans 22nd consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Last season USC finished as the runner up after falling just short in the championship game.

Winners of seven previous national championships, USC holds a 43-16 all-time record in NCAA tournaments. The Trojans last won it all in 2021.

USC's first national title came in 1999 before the NCAA sponsored women's water polo. In 2004, USC posted the first-ever undefeated season on the way to capturing the 2014 NCAA title. USC's third title came in 2010 — the last time the Trojans swept the MPSF coach, player and newcomer awards — in a championship won over Stanford. Three years later in 2013, the Trojans topped the Cardinal in triple sudden-death overtime — the longest NCAA final in history — to claim a fourth national championship for USC. In another three years, USC was back on top once more, posting a second undefeated season en route to the 2016 NCAA Championship in another epic battle against Stanford. The 2018 campaign brought USC its sixth crown in a defensive 5-4 win over Stanford at the Trojans' Uytengsu Aquatics Center. In 2021, USC overpowered UCLA with an 18-9 final win that set an NCAA record for goals scored and margin of victory in a final and secured USC's seventh national championship.

Rankings
The Trojans are ranked No. 2 in the most recent CWPA poll, just behind Stanford who received the top spot following the MPSF Tournament.

MPSF Awards
USC claimed two of the three major awards from the MPSF. Emily Ausmus collected MPSF/Delfina Player of the Year accolades. Ausmus is the first in MPSF Women's Water Polo history to go directly from a newcomer of the year to a player of the year in consecutive years.

Head coach Casey Moon was named the MPSF Coach of the Year, following a 6-0 conference record and a 21-2 regular season mark.

Ausmus was named to the All-MPSF First team along with Rachel Gazzaniga. Alma Yaacobi picked up All-MPSF Second Team honors while Ava Stryker was named All-MPSF Honorable Mention.

EJ Hourigan and Natalia Blazevic rounded out the group, being named to the All-MPSF Newcomer Team.

Following the MPSF Tournament, Ausmus and Yaacobi were selected to the All-Tournament Team.

Trio Of Trojans
Three members of the USC women's water polo team were named to the Cutino Award Watch List as announced by the Olympic Club. Emily Ausmus was named to the list for the second straight season and was joined by first time honorees Ava Stryker and Rachel Gazzaniga. The watch list, which is named in honor of the late Hall of Fame coach, recognizes the best player in men's and women's college water polo. This watch list was created in 2022 in an effort to help promote the collegiate game, awareness of the award and the tremendous play of athletes across the country. Twenty athletes, as submitted by varsity college coaches around the country, are recognized for their outstanding play.

MPSF Weekly Awards
Five different USC players have garnered MPSF weekly honors throughout the season. Most recently, Emily Ausmus and Natalia Blazevic earned weekly honors following the win over No. 3 UCLA, with Ausmus named MPSF/Defina Player of the Week and Blazevic tabbed Newcomer of the Week. USC is tied for the most player of the week honorees and is the lone program to have three different players receive the recognition. Emily Ausmus has been named the Player of the Week twice this season with Ava Stryker and Meghan McAninch each being recognized once. USC is also the only team to have two different players earn Newcomer of the Week Honors, with EJ Hourigan (Feb. 10 and Mar. 31) and Natalia Blazevic (Apr. 7) both receiving the award this season.

MPSF Top Ten
The Women of Troy continue to show up across the board in the conference's top five. Emily Ausmus ranks third in goals (71) and fourth in points (98), while also sitting third in steals (36), third in sprint wins (23) and third in field blocks (16). Maggie Johnson leads the conference in assists with 51. Meghan McAninch also ranks among the leaders, sitting second in assists (46) and third in points (101). Rachel Gazzaniga ranks fifth in earned exclusions (39), while Anna Reed is fourth in saves (173) and fifth in steals (33).

Automatic Ausmus
Emily Ausmus leads the Trojan scoring for the second consecutive season. The sophomore has 71 goals and is firing at a .612 clip. Ausmus has racked up 27 assists to give her 98 total points on the year. Just one season ago, the Riverside, Calif. Native became the fastest player in program history to reach 100 career goals and currently sits 13th with 185 total.

Don't Let McAninch Get Hot
Meghan McAninch is heating up at just the right time. The junior has the second most goals on the squad with 55 and leads the Women of Troy with 101 points. McAninch earned the first conference weekly honors of her career after being named the MPSF/Delfina Player of the Week following the win against Stanford. McAninch powered the Trojan offense in their wins over two top five opponents with 10 points across the two games. McAninch recorded a hat trick and two assists in the 14-13 victory over #5 Hawai'i and tacked on two sprint wins. She then brought that momentum into the pivotal conference matchup against #1 Stanford with a four goal performance and an assist to hand the Cardinal its first loss of the season by a score of 11-10.

Cage Command
Anna Reed has been the starting keeper for the Women of Troy throughout the season. The redshirt-sophomore has tallied four double digit save performances this season. Reed has also held opponents to single digit scoring in 11 outings. With 264 stops over two seasons, Reed sits 10th in program history for career saves.

All Out Attack
USC's scoring has been on fire in the 2026 campaign. Through the first six games, the Trojans tallied 20-plus goals in four contests. Emily Ausmus leads the way with 71 goals and 98 total points with Meghan McAninch close behind with 55 goals. 14 Women of Troy have surpassed the 10-goal mark this 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.

New Kids On The Deck
Six newcomers joined 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
Alma Yaacobi, Sinia Plotz and Jelena Sarac competed at the 2026 European Aquatics Women's Water Polo Championship. Yaacobi competed with Israel who finished seventh. Sarac was a member of Team Serbia who finished 10th. Plotz was on Team Germany who placed 11th.

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.