Vavic named conference player of the year yet again


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After earning the No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Championships, several members of the USC men’s water polo team were honored with Mountain Pacific Sports Federation postseason awards.

Senior driver Nikola Vavic was named the conference player of the year after scoring 75 goals in 2013. It is his third time being named to the MPSF First Team. Vavic is now USC’s all-time top scorer with 248 career goals.

Junior driver Kostas Genidounias and senior utility Mace Rapsey both made the All-MPSF First Team, while senior goalie James Clark earned a spot on the All-MPSF Second Team. Senior two-meters Jeremy Davie and Connor Virjee earned All-MPSF Honorable Mentions.

Genidounias is the Trojans’ leading scorer this season with 76 goals. Genidounias has scored 175 career goals during his USC career. Rapsey has scored 47 times this season and currently ranks No. 20 on USC’s all-time career goals list. Clark has averaged 9.6 saves per game.

Honorable mentions Davie and Virjee have scored 27 goals and 49 goals this season, respectively.

The Trojans began the MPSF tournament as the No. 4 seed before beating No. 5 California 12-9 and No. 1-seeded Pacific 18-13. USC moved on to win the title match against No. 2-seeded Stanford, automatically earning a ticket to the NCAA tournament.

USC was able to bounce back and win the MPSF tournament after enduring a relatively disappointing regular season. The team lost four games, including three conference games en route to a fifth-place finish. The Trojans’ resurgence should give the team a boost as it heads to the NCAA Championships.

The tournament will take place this weekend in Palo Alto, Calif. Top-seeded USC will play the winner of the UC San Diego-St. Francis Brooklyn match tomorrow. The title match will take place Sunday at Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center. If USC wins, the Trojans will be the first collegiate water polo team to win six consecutive national championships.