USC captures long-awaited NCAA title

Instead of partaking in Friday’s commencement ceremonies and celebrating the end of their scholastic careers, USC seniors Tumua Anae, Kami Craig, Forel Davies, Alexandra Kiss and Kally Lucas had their own kind of celebration over the weekend.

Looking to overcome previous postseason failures, USC’s veteran core found itself in San Diego, participating in the NCAA water polo championships with the hope of possibly earning that ever-elusive national title. But unlike in past seasons, the No. 2 seeded USC women’s water polo team (25-3) got over the hump at last — defeating No. 1 seeded Stanford by a score of 10-9 to become NCAA champions.

“I can’t believe I’m even holding this trophy in my hands,” said Craig, a senior two-meter, who was named tournament MVP. “A lot of effort went into it this. It was about time.”

This season’s surreal finish comes after postseason glory had eluded the Women of Troy in years past. During the two seasons prior to 2010, USC had been eliminated by crosstown rival UCLA in the national championship game, but this time around it was USC that came out on top.

“It was honestly one of the best feelings in the world and the best part about it is I am doing it with my best friends,” said Lucas, a fellow senior. “This is my last water polo game ever and to go out with a win is so exciting for me.”

But as Craig previously noted, edging Stanford, a team that had already defeated the Women of Troy twice this season, and taking home the title would take a tremendous effort. But it was a collective effort, as USC saw seven different players get the ball past Stanford goalie Amber Oland.

Lucas, junior two-meter Kristen Dronberger and  freshman two-meter Patricia Jancso each added two goals apiece, as Kiss, Craig and fellow teammates Joelle Bekhazi, a junior driver, and Dominique Sardo, a freshman driver, each contributed one goal.

“This was a 100 percent team effort,” said USC coach Jovan Vavic. “We had so many players play well. Our seniors played a great game. They played with lots of fire, lots of heart. I am so happy to see them end their careers with a win.”

Before being able to celebrate, however, the Women of Troy were forced to focus on stopping the Cardinal’s second half surge. Holding a 6-3 halftime lead, Vavic’s bunch slowly watched Stanford open the third quarter on fire, as driver Kim Kreuger got a lob shot past Anae just 48 seconds in, lowering the deficit to two. A minute later, Stanford would then cut the USC lead to just one following a goal from driver Kelly Eaton.

With their lead suddenly in flux, the Women of Troy would elevate their play on both ends of the pool. The defense, forced to stop a potent Stanford offense threatening to thwart the team’s title hopes, shut down the Cardinal when it mattered most, creating a pile of Stanford turnovers. On the offensive end, USC took advantage of those miscues, scoring four consecutive goals to build a nearly insurmountable 10-6 lead midway through the 4th quarter.

“We needed to stay and play a smart game,” Anae said. “We still had a few minutes left so our focus was on defense and patience on offense. You don’t want to back down, but you don’t want to start playing bad water polo.”

USC was tested in a similar manner the day before during its semifinal matchup against Loyola Marymount. Holding a narrow 7-6 lead during the early stages of the final period, the Women of Troy, having already defeated Marist 20-5 in the opening round, reeled off three consecutive goals to punch their ticket to the championship game.

“I’ve got to say that LMU improved from the beginning of the season to the NCAAs,” Vavic noted. “If they were not tired, tonight could have been a different game.”

Nonetheless, USC got the job done, capturing its third women’s water polo championship in school history and eighth championship overall for Vavic, who also led the men’s team to the title in the fall.

“I swear, I was as excited for this finish and for this championship as I was for the first one,” Vavic added. “[Winning] just doesn’t get old. In some ways, I was even more excited for this, because we waited for so long.”