USC Women's Water Polo Place 5th In MPSF Tournament
Video by Connor McGlynn
The No. 3 USC women’s water polo team jumped into the pool today in an MPSF playoff battle versus San Jose State. In the tournament’s final day of action, the Women of Troy dominated the Spartans 21-9.
"It was more of a team performance," said USC driver Kelly Mendoza.
USC entered the game struggling on offense, and was held to just nine goals in a first-round loss to Arizona State on Friday. However, the Cardinal and Gold surged back and posted over 40 goals in their past two games.
"I think that we were more confident in our shooting and putting the ball in the cage," said USC two-meter Kaleigh Gilchrist. "Once you put the ball in the cage, it's pretty simple, youll get the goal. That was the difference from the Arizona game.”
With the win, the Women of Troy captured fifth-place in the MPSF. With NCAA play now looming, players are optimistic about their performance and moving forward in the postseason.
"We wanted to prove that we can still play water polo and we did a good job finishing fifth and winning the next two games after it,” said Gilchrist.
Winning two in a row after dropping back-to-back games to close the regular season and open the MPSF tournament, USC tries to extend the win streak in the next round of postseason play.
"We're going to prepare as hard as we can for the next week and a half: sleep, eat, play water polo," said Mendoza. "That's how we're going to try to win this thing."
Now 6-2 in the confines of the Uytengsu Aquatics Center on the season, the Women of Troy will try to use their home pool advantage to propel them to a second-straight national championship title. USC will host the NCAA tournament, starting May 9.
