USC’s women’s water polo team will have home-pool advantage this weekend as it attempts to defend its crown at the NCAA tournament at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
The eight-team tournament begins Friday with four first-round matches and concludes Sunday with the championship at 5:30 p.m.
The third-seeded Trojans (24-3) open against No. 6-seeded and Big West Conference champion UC Irvine (24-7) on Friday at 1:45 p.m.
The Anteaters are led by Big West player of the year and leading scorer Danielle Warde (Edison).
Other first-round pairings Friday: No. 2 UCLA (25-4)-No. 7 UC San Diego (27-10), noon; No. 1 Stanford (22-1)-No. 8 Indiana (23-5), 3:30 p.m. and No. 4 Cal (19-8)-No. 5 Arizona State (15-10), 5:15 p.m.
In USC and UCLA each win Friday, they could collide in the semifinals Saturday at 5:15 p.m.
The Trojans feature several county products, including senior Kaleigh Gilchrist (Newport Harbor). The former county player of the year is fourth in scoring 33 goals and just a few shy of breaking into the Trojans’ career top-10 list.
Freshman twins Stephania and Ioanna Haralabidis (Corona del Mar) also have played well for USC. The left-handed Stephania is second to Monica Vavic in scoring with 54 goals while Ioanna has 31.
MPSF champion Stanford features Olympic gold medalist and senior Annika Dries (Laguna Beach), who is fourth in scoring with 40 goals. Sullivan Award nominee Rachel Fattal (Los Alamitos) is UCLA’s second-leading scorer with 42 goals. Dries and Fattal are each former county players of the year.
Indiana’s squad features county products Colleen McNaught (Dana Hills) and Candyce Schroeder (San Clemente). Jolene Guiliana (Beckman) is one of UC San Diego’s top scorers with 69 goals.
