USC scored five unanswered goals in the first half and four in the second en route to a record-setting 18-9 victory over UCLA today in the NCAA women's water polo championship game.
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THIS WEEK
No. 1 USC, fresh off a third consecutive victorious run to the MPSF Tournament title, has secured its 17th consecutive NCAA tournament berth in earning the No. 1 seed into this 2021 tournament. The Trojans will take a 19-1 record into the 2021 National Collegiate Women s Water Polo Championship, hosted this year by UCLA at the Spieker Aquatics Center from May 14-16. USC will be looking for its seventh national championship, having won its last title in 2018. The Trojans (19-1) will open the 2021 NCAA Tournament at 12 p.m. on May 14, playing the winner of Wednesday s Opening Round game between Marist (8-0) and Salem (18-11). In the other Opening Round game on May 12, Fresno State (12-5) will face Cal Lutheran (5-0) for the right to play No. 2 seed Stanford (12-5) on May 14. The other May 14 quarterfinal matchups are set: No. 4 seed Arizona State (13-11) takes on Michigan (21-4), while No. 3 seed UCLA (13-4) faces Hawai i (11-1). Winners advance to May 15 semifinal
Redshirt senior driver Mammolito scored seven goals over the two-game series against Stanford, earning her MPSF Player of the Week recognition. (Simon Park | Daily Trojan)
One early afternoon in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., high school freshman Denise Mammolito tried out for her high school’s water polo team because her best friend wanted to try out. A few years later, Mammolito scored 11 goals to bring Rancho Cucamonga High School a 18-6 win in a tournament. Now, Mammolito sits at No. 12 on the USC women’s water polo career record scoring list.
This was just a natural progression for the standout redshirt senior driver.
Redshirt senior forward Chevez Goodwin finished with eight points in the win over Stanford. (Andrew Kerner | Daily Trojan)
In a little over two weeks time the No. 1 women’s water polo team will begin their quest for what would be their third NCAA title in the last five years.
The 10-team tournament includes the winners of seven different conferences and three at-large teams. After finishing the regular season 17-1 while being atop the Collegiate Water Polo Association polls for 12 consecutive weeks, the Trojans will likely enter the tournament as the No. 1 or No. 2 seed depending on their performance in the MPSF tournament. This would grant them an automatic bid to the quarterfinals to play the winner of one of the two first round games.