Yoav’s Top 10: London, Tuaniga, Hocking were stand outs from the past week
We’re back in business with another edition of my top ten. Junior receiver Drake London kicks off for us this week, with freshman setter Mia Tuaniga and some red-hot teams taking the stage later. Let’s roll.
The Drake London Experience
Where would we be without London? To say our offense runs through the junior wide receiver would be a misnomer. London is our offense. A catch-of-the-year candidate highlighted his clinic in Colorado, as the junior wideout ran wild throughout. He added 130 yards and a touchdown to his Biletnikoff case against the Buffaloes. London’s 16 receptions against Utah were also tied for the second most by a Trojan receiver in a single game. London continues to look like the standout receiver in college football.
Mia Tuaniga’s Bullet Serves
The freshman transfer from Long Beach State has got an absolute cannon for an arm. Tuaniga passes more than just the eye test, though, as she’s got excellent stats to boot. Tuaniga ranks second on the team in assists and third in aces, showing no signs of inexperience in her performances. She’ll hope to add another standout showing when the team takes on Arizona State and Arizona later this week.
Basketball boots up
USC basketball tipped off at its first practice earlier this month. The Trojans will look to build off their first Elite Eight appearance in 20 years last season. Andy Enfield’s men lost standout center Evan Mobley to the NBA draft, but they should still be a formidable force in the Pac-12. Last spring, they finished at No. 6 in Kenpom’s adjusted defensive efficiency rankings and they’ll look to keep that staunch defensive work up this season.
Trigg takes off
Recruited out of high school as a two-sport athlete, freshman receiver Michael Trigg has started getting into a rhythm on the football field. After tallying just seven yards through three games, Trigg went for a combined 95 yards and a touchdown against Oregon State and Colorado. If the wideout keeps this up, the Trojan quarterbacks will have a much easier job.
Women’s soccer on fire
Nine straight wins for the USC soccer team, who remain undefeated in conference play. Arizona and Colorado never even had a shot, as both conceded 4 goals in their respective losses to the Trojans. USC will look to keep up its blazing form against Oregon later this week.
Water warriors
The No. 1 ranked men’s water polo team was undefeated before suffering a tight 7-6 defeat to No. 5 Cal Saturday. Despite the loss, this team has a ton of talent with six Tokyo Olympians highlighting the skilled squad. They’ve got as good a shot as anyone in the country to win the national championship and they’re definitely worth keeping an eye on.
Penelope Hocking
strikes again
Senior forward Penelope Hocking scored against Colorado last week, something she’s now done more than any other player in USC history. As the all-time leading scorer in team history, she joins Trojan record-setters Harold Miner (points-basketball) and Matt Barkley (touchdowns-football) in the history books.
Salute to the parents
Parents covered campus this past weekend for family weekend, all corners of the country converging here. They are the foundation of athletics at all levels, supporting their athletes everywhere from Saturday morning soccer games to Friday night football. Without them, we wouldn’t have USC athletes, and they deserve to be recognized for it.
Carson Palmer enshrined
Former Heisman-winning quarterback Carson Palmer was honored at Saturday’s game against Utah for his entrance into the College Football Hall of Fame. Palmer was the first Trojan quarterback to ever win the Heisman, and his work in the NFL wasn’t shabby either.
Intramural Drama II: Stunning Collapse
As our regular readers will know, the Daily Trojan typically covers the cut-and-dry excellence of Division I athletics. Once a column, though, I scrape the edges of the brownie tin that is intramural sports to find crunchy bits of action to share. I followed up with the men’s soccer squad from our previous recap, witnessing them grind out an 11-1 victory. Sophomore Derek Laureola, who scored four goals, had this to say after the game: “I’m utterly disappointed, I let my team down … I take full responsibility.” The team was incredibly disappointed to concede, even as they won by 10 goals. Not often has such a strong commitment to absolute perfection been seen on Brittingham’s hallowed grounds.
Yoav Gillath is a freshman writing about his ten favorite things that happen in USC sports. His column, “Yoav’s Top-10,” runs every other Monday.