Trojan athletes will shine over bye


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What a whirlwind it’s been so far for USC’s 2014-15 football team.

A player (and captain nonetheless) sprained his ankles and lied about the cause before another player quit the team, alleging head coach Steve Sarkisian was racist. USC’s athletic director was fined for trotting down to the sidelines at Stanford, and then Boston College showed them up on a national stage.

As someone muttered in the press box after the BC loss, “USC can’t have one easy season.”

So the bye this week really comes at a good time for the Trojan football team. Through just three games this year, those student-athletes have endured more scrutiny and media attention than some other teams across the country will all season.

Lucky for them, they get a break — a chance to step out of the spotlight. And that break presents all of the other teams here at USC with an opportunity to shine.

Students, allow me to direct your attention to our women’s volleyball, women’s soccer and men’s water polo teams in competition this weekend.

Today, USC’s undefeated women’s soccer team hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff at McAlister Field at 3 p.m. If you haven’t been following along all season (I can’t imagine why), let me bring you up to date.

A year removed from going 8-10-2 on the season, which led to the firing of former head coach Ali Khosroshahin, the No. 15 Women of Troy (5-0-2) are off to a hot start.

Under new head coach Keidane McAlpine, they’ve outscored their opponents by a combined 19-5 score through seven games (including an 8-1 walloping of UC Riverside).

After (hopefully) dispatching of the one-win Arkansas-Pine Bluff Lions today, the Women of Troy will host Pepperdine in their last non-conference game before starting Pac-12 play.

The 12th-ranked Waves will present a formidable challenge for the Women of Troy on Sunday afternoon, and that game — which will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks at 3:30 p.m. if you can’t make it out — is sure to be a close one.

USC’s women’s volleyball team will also be competing this weekend in Seattle. The Women of Troy opened up the season with six straight wins, but much like the football team, suffered a shocking weekend, losing to Texas A&M and Florida.

USC’s women’s volleyball team lost 3-1 against No. 4 Wisconsin last night, but will face off against Maryland at 5:30 p.m. today on the Pac-12 Networks, and the team is sure to play with a chip on its shoulder and bounce back from three straight losses.

Then there’s the legendary USC men’s water polo team. The Trojans, who are ranked third in the nation behind Stanford and UCLA despite winning the last six consecutive national championships and starting this season 8-0, are playing in the Kap7 (no, Colin Kaepernick is not sponsoring a water polo tournament) NorCal Classic in Stockton, California.

The Trojan water polo squad, led by head coach Jovan Vavic, will face some steep competition in the tournament this weekend.

Even USC’s women’s cross country team competes this weekend. Yes, USC has a women’s cross country team, and this weekend they’ll be running in Santa Clarita, California.

I told myself that I was glad USC didn’t have a football game this Saturday so that I could watch the other big games all day, but let’s be honest, there are no big games this weekend.

No. 1 Florida State takes on No. 22 Clemson without Jameis Winston for a half, but I have a hard time believing that will make any difference. Eastern Michigan at No. 11 Michigan State? Don’t care. Troy at No. 13 Georgia? Don’t care. Florida at No. 3 Alabama? I care a teeny tiny bit.

With the uninspiring college football schedule this weekend, there’s no good excuse not to pay attention to the other Trojan student-athletes in action, home and away.

Show up, tune in, incessantly check Twitter — do whatever you can to show your support.

 

Aubrey Kragen is a senior majoring in communication. She is also the sports editor of the Daily Trojan. Her column, “Release the Kragen,” runs Fridays.