No. 3 Women of Troy set to clash with No. 2 Bruins
For the USC women’s water polo team, the last four weeks of the regular season couldn’t have gone any better.
After a win last Saturday against No. 8-ranked San Jose State, the Women of Troy now ride a seven-game winning streak into this Saturday’s marquee matchup against crosstown rival UCLA.
The No. 3-ranked Women of Troy (21-2, 4-1 MPSF) will suit up for what will be a clash between two of the nation’s best teams when they travel to Westwood to take on No. 2 UCLA (20-2, 4-1 MPSF) in their regular season finale.
The host Bruins are coming off a narrow 8-7 defeat at the hands of then-No. 2 Stanford in Palo Alto last weekend. The loss dropped UCLA out of the top spot in the national rankings and propelled Stanford to No. 1, while USC has remained steady at the No. 3 spot since the beginning of the season.
Through 23 games this season, however, USC leads the MPSF in both offense and defense, scoring 17.57 goals per game and allowing just 4.43 goals per game. The Women of Troy have also outscored opponents by a whopping 404-102 margin.
For head coach Jovan Vavic, though, those stats won’t mean much at the end of the season if the Women of Troy don’t bring their A-game on Saturday.
“Against UCLA specifically, our defense has been good, but we’ve had problems scoring. In the last two games we’ve played them, our players only scored three goals, so we have to be more aggressive,” Vavic said. “That’s probably the one thing that has to be true for us to be successful against UCLA — we have to be more aggressive and more willing to take chances.”
The Women of Troy are looking to avenge a 5-3 loss to the Bruins in the UC Irvine Invitational back in late February.
Revenge and bragging rights, however, aren’t the only things on the line when these two teams meet, as this matchup will carry even greater implications than usual.
The match will be important for MPSF conference standings and possible tournament seedings, as the No. 2 seed in the upcoming MPSF tournament is on the line.
It will also be a tough test in the pool for USC in Westwood, as the Bruins are a perfect 5-0 at home. The Women of Troy, however, are looking to spoil the Bruins’ afternoon festivities when they visit Spieker Aquatics Center.
Senior two-meter Eike Daube thinks the high-pressure atmosphere will be a good test for the team.
“We have a really young team this year, and that loss earlier this season was the first time a majority of our girls played in the big rivalry game, so now we’re more prepared and excited to get another opportunity to play UCLA,” Daube said. “It’s also going to be UCLA’s Senior Day as well, so there will be a lot more people than we’re used to, but that just adds to the atmosphere of playing at such a high level, and it’s really exciting.”
Despite that loss to UCLA, the Women of Troy have been on a hot streak as of late, winning nine of their last 10 games and seven-in-a-row.
USC’s quest for a good tournament seed continued last weekend when the Women of Troy hosted San Jose State at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
It was a special day for USC’s seniors last Saturday, as Daube, Monica Vavic, Michelle Mercado, Sara Salamon and Jennifer Stiefel were all honored in a pregame ceremony before tipping off against the Spartans.
San Jose State came out of the gates hot and held close with a 4-2 score at the end of the first frame, but the Women of Troy turned up their defensive pressure and allowed just one goal in the second period.
The Women of Troy held a 10-3 lead at the half and ultimately outscored the Spartans 7-3 the rest of the way, ending with a 21-6 win on Senior Day.
Eleven different players scored against the Spartans, while seven goals were scored by seniors. Daube and Vavic led the way with three goals each, sophomore driver Stephania Haralabidis added a hat trick of her own and freshman goalie Victória Chamorro had nine saves in the cage.
That win, however, will pale in comparison to a USC victory on Saturday against the crosstown rivals.
“I think in order to win, we just need to focus on executing what we’ve been working on, and it’ll come down to people who you normally wouldn’t expect stepping up,” Daube said. “Because we have a very small senior class, UCLA is aware of who our top players are, but I think we can really make a difference with some of our younger girls, and I think they have something to prove.”
One of those younger players who is looking to make an impact will be Chamorro.
The Brazilian native won the starting spot after former Olympian and First Team All-American Flora Bolonyai graduated last year, and she has been steady in the cage all season long for the Women of Troy, averaging 6.78 saves per game and allowing only 4.34 goals per game.
Chamorro thinks her improvement over the course of the season both mentally and physically has helped her confidence heading into just her second time playing in the storied rivalry match.
“I believe I’ve improved a lot in the pool and out of it too, as a water polo player and as a person. The team and coaches have helped me a lot, and in the cage, I think I’ve been doing well for a freshman, so I’m excited,” Chamorro said. “I’m feeling really confident about this game, and I think our team has gotten much better since the beginning of the season, so we’re prepared to beat the Bruins. I think we can win this one.”
In the end, behind all the excitement and anticipation surrounding this Saturday’s rivalry match, Vavic believes that if the team can just stick together and follow its normal game plan, the Women of Troy will be fine.
“If our players are committed to the preparation, then what we do will all work out and we will be able to pull out a win,” Vavic said.
USC will head across town for the key matchup against the Bruins on April 18. The regular season finale for both teams will begin at 1 p.m. at UCLA’s Spieker Aquatics Center.