Photo by: John McGillen
No. 2 USC Women’s Water Polo Aiming For Eighth MPSF Tournament Title This Week
Trojans are the No. 2 seed for the action in Westwood, running April 25-27.
THIS WEEK
No. 2 USC (26-2) has the No. 2 seed for the 2025 MPSF Tournament, opening up in the quarterfinals at 12:45 p.m. on Friday (April 25) against No. 7 seed Indiana. Semifinal rounds take place on Saturday (April 26) with the placement games set for Sunday (April 27) — all at UCLA's Spieker Aquatics Center in Westwood. USC is looking to win its eighth MPSF Tournament title, last achieved in 2021.
MPSF TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: https://mpsports.org/tournaments/?id=47
RANKINGS
USC opened up 2025 ranked No. 3 in the national rankings. On Feb. 5, the Trojans moved up to rank No. 1 in the nation, and stood tied in that spot for the next two weeks before moving to No. 2 in the nation on Feb. 26. The Trojans took back that top spot in earning a tie at No. 1 before taking sole possession of the top spot on April 9. Entering postseason play, USC is now ranked No. 2 in the latest set of national rankings (released April 23).
FOLLOW ALONG
MPSF Tournament games will stream live at overnght.com on a subscription basis. Live stats for all games can be found at scores.6-8sports.com.
THIS TIME LAST YEAR
USC was a No. 4 seed carrying a 17-6 overall record into last year's MPSF Tournament, held in Bloomington, Ind. The Trojans opened with an 11-6 win over Arizona State in the quarterfinals to move into a semifinal meeting with UCLA. There, the top-seeded Bruins beat USC 10-4, putting the Trojans in the third-place game against Stanford. In a tight game, the Cardinal edged out USC 12-11 to leave the Trojans with a fourth-place finish. USC would go on to earn an at-large berth in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, making its 20th straight NCAA appearance.
BY THE NUMBERS
Entering postseason play, USC's balanced scoring charge is led by Emily Ausmus and Tilly Kearns with 96 and 84 goals, respectively. Next in line is Ava Stryker, with 63 to help lead a pack of six Trojans with 30 or more goals to date. In all, 17 Trojans have scored at least one goal in 2025, including six with their first goals as Trojans. Defensively, all four USC goalies have factored into USC's 26-2 record — all of whom have set career highs already this year. Junior Jada Ward has started 24 games for the Trojans, and she hauled in a career-high 13 saves in USC's win over Hawai'i earlier this season along with back-to-back 11-save outings at the BKI. Overall, the goalie group averages 7.5 saves per game to anchor a Trojan defense giving up 9.1 goals per game. USC has outscored opponents 497-256 so far, while holding teams scoreless in 10 different periods to date. Offensively, USC is averaging 17.8 goals per game.
CLIMB ON
Both Emily Ausmus and Tilly Kearns have broken the 80-goal barrier this season — now two of just six Trojans to have done so in a single season and the first USC duo to each score 80 or more in the same season since Sofia Konoukh (104) and Aniko Pelle (81) in 2001. Ausmus' continues to expand on her new USC record for goals scored by a Trojan true freshman, now with 96 goals — the third-most single-season goals scored by any Trojan. Kearns' 84 goals so far have propelled the senior up the USC career ladder, currently ranking No. 4 all-time in scoring at USC with 246 goals. Also on the rise in the USC career ranks is sophomore Ava Stryker, who crossed the 100-goal mark recently and now hold 112 career goals in under two seasons of work as a Trojan. Junior goalie Jada Ward also has joined elite company, ranked No. 10 all-time in career saves at USC with 189 total stops to date.
EMILY PULLS EVEN
USC freshman Emily Ausmus tied the conference record for most MPSF Newcomer of the Week selections in picking up her seventh award last week. She's even with fellow Olympians Paige Hauschild (USC, 2018) and Maddie Musselman (UCLA, 2017). Ausmus broke the 90-goal barrier — just the third Trojan in program history to do so in a single season — in scoring eight goals across USC's two MPSF wins in its last weekend of action at home. She scored three goals on four shots and added an assist in spite of two early exclusions during USC's 18-13 win over No. 11 Arizona State. The next day against No. 13 San José State, Ausmus scored a game-high five goals along with two assists and a steal in USC's 17-8 win over the Spartans.
ON REPEAT
In back-to-back weeks, USC claimed both MPSF awards, notching another sweep with Tilly Kearns' first MPSF Player of the Week award of the season and Emily Ausmus' second MPSF Newcomer of the Week selection on Feb. 10. The two Trojan Olympians were instrumental in top-ranked USC's 19-15 win over No. 6 UC Irvine, while also helping lift USC to a 24-7 win over Biola in the Trojans' home opener. Kearns scored five goals against the Anteaters after tallying two against the Eagles. Also against UCI, Kearns drew an exclusion and had a steal. In the win over Biola, she had three steals and an assist along with a drawn exclusion. Ausmus also scored five goals in USC's win over UC Irvine after hitting a career-high six goals vs. the Eagles. She also served up three assists and had three steals and a field block in the win over the Anteaters while going 5-of-6 shooting. Against Biola, she added two assists and two steals to her six goals on eight shots.
SWEEPS WEEK
USC landed a pair of Trojans on the MPSF's weekly honor roll for the first time this season following USC's run to the 2025 Triton Invitational championship. For their key roles in a powerful 4-0 run at the event that was topped with a title-winning victory over rival UCLA, Rachel Gazzaniga was named MPSF Player of the Week and Emily Ausmus the MPSF Newcomer of the Week. Gazzaniga scored a career-high four goals — including a run of three straight goals during the second half — to help USC beat No. 1 UCLA 14-11 in the championship game at the Triton Invitational. She finished with nine goals at the event, having scored in all four games for the Trojans as USC also beat CMS 30-8 and No. 21 UC Davis 17-9 in group play and No. 5 Hawai'i 17-9 in the semifinals. Gazzaniga scored twice and had an assist, steal and block vs. CMS. Against UC Davis, she also scored twice and added an assist and steal along with two drawn exclusions. In the win over the Rainbow Wahine she had a goal, assist and steal. Gazzaniga also had three drawn exclusions vs. the Bruins, helping USC stay undefeated on the season at 8-0 after winning the Trojans' second Triton Invite title in the last three years. A freshman, Ausmus scored 12 goals to help USC win the Triton Invitational championship. She scored twice and had three assists in the title game against UCLA. She opened the event with five goals in a 30-8 USC win over CMS, then had a hat trick in a 17-9 win over UC Davis to wrap group play. In the semifinal vs. Hawai'i, Ausmus scored twice and had four assists and a steal to help USC to a 17-9 win over the Rainbow Wahine. Ausmus has scored multiple goals in all eight games for USC this season. Gazzaniga and Ausmus are the first Trojans to earn weekly honors from the conference this season, and this is the first set of such honors for both.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Almost half of USC's scoring was generated by just five Trojan freshmen and sophomores last year, led by All-Americans Rachel Gazzaniga and Ava Stryker with 49 goals apiece. That dynamic duo gained extra experience as teammates with Team USA in a gold-medal run at the recent Pan American Games alongside incoming freshman and 2024 Olympian Emily Ausmus. Along with Ausmus, who deferred her enrollment in 2023-24 to compete with Team USA in Paris, USC welcomes a total of five newcomers to the pool for this 2025 campaign. Also boasting international experience are true freshman Alma Yaacobi (Israel) and junior transfer Sinia Plotz (Germany). Southern California products Ava Knepper and Sofia Umeda are also tabbed as quick impact players for the Trojans in their first season ahead.
VETERAN VIPS
Two-time Olympian and 2024 silver medalist Tilly Kearns plunges back into action at USC, where she is one of a five-woman senior class setting up for their final season as Trojans. Laine Hourigan, Emma Lawson, Sally McCarthy and Isabel Zimmerman all bring veteran experience to the 2025 Trojan talent pool. Lawson and junior Maggie Johnson are USC's team captains this season, joined by Kearns, Zimmerman, junior Morgan Netherton and sophomore Gazzaniga on head coach Casey Moon's Leadership Council, which serves as a guiding force for the Trojans.
STAYING CENTERED
USC's center play is anchored by Tilly Kearns and Alma Yaacobi on the offensive end, and is balanced by the defensive savvy of Emily Ausmus and Rachel Gazzaniga as guards. Gazzaniga and Madison Haaland-Ford also add offensive options at the two-meter slot for the Trojans.
ATTACK MODE
USC's perimeter attack features a number of Trojan sharpshooters. Along with the more veteran talent of Morgan Netherton and Isabel Zimmerman, sophomores Rachel Gazzaniga, Ava Stryker and Meghan McAninch have proven their worth on the perimeter, with further reinforcements coming in from newcomers Sinia Plotz, Ausmus and Kearns. Additional depth from the bench comes from Hannah Carver and Jelena Sarac, who scored their first goals as Trojans last season, along with another redshirt sophomore in Caitlin Cohen.
CAGE FIGHTERS
On the defensive end of the pool, USC also boasts a connected unit of goalies. Laine Hourigan and Jada Ward both have logged time in the cage the last two seasons. They're joined by two other Trojan goalies in redshirt freshmen Anna Reed and Lauren Schneider as USC's goalkeeping corps for 2025.
LAST SEASON
In 2024, USC went 18-9 overall in a season that saw the Trojans make a 20th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament in Casey Moon's first season as full-time head coach for the Trojans. USC tied for second in MPSF regular-season play at 4-2 and finished fourth at the MPSF Tournament. At the NCAA tourney, the Trojans fell in the quarterfinals to Stanford. USC's 2024 team was led in scoring by freshmen Rachel Gazzaniga and Ava Stryker with 49 goals apiece. Both earned All-America honors along with seniors Alejandra Aznar and Julia Janov.
THE PLACE TO BE.
The University of Southern California is the undeniable, unequaled and unquestioned top destination for student-athletes. USC is both home to 136 national team championships and one of the top-ranked private research institutions in the world. Located in the heart of the thriving Los Angeles metropolitan area, it is situated in one of the most diverse and visible media markets in the world. USC's campus is driving distance from the beautiful beaches of Southern California, the majestic mountains range of the Sierra Nevada, the sprawling splendor of the Redwood and Sequoia national forests, and the mysterious Mojave Desert. •
MPSF TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: https://mpsports.org/tournaments/?id=47
RANKINGS
USC opened up 2025 ranked No. 3 in the national rankings. On Feb. 5, the Trojans moved up to rank No. 1 in the nation, and stood tied in that spot for the next two weeks before moving to No. 2 in the nation on Feb. 26. The Trojans took back that top spot in earning a tie at No. 1 before taking sole possession of the top spot on April 9. Entering postseason play, USC is now ranked No. 2 in the latest set of national rankings (released April 23).
FOLLOW ALONG
MPSF Tournament games will stream live at overnght.com on a subscription basis. Live stats for all games can be found at scores.6-8sports.com.
THIS TIME LAST YEAR
USC was a No. 4 seed carrying a 17-6 overall record into last year's MPSF Tournament, held in Bloomington, Ind. The Trojans opened with an 11-6 win over Arizona State in the quarterfinals to move into a semifinal meeting with UCLA. There, the top-seeded Bruins beat USC 10-4, putting the Trojans in the third-place game against Stanford. In a tight game, the Cardinal edged out USC 12-11 to leave the Trojans with a fourth-place finish. USC would go on to earn an at-large berth in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, making its 20th straight NCAA appearance.
BY THE NUMBERS
Entering postseason play, USC's balanced scoring charge is led by Emily Ausmus and Tilly Kearns with 96 and 84 goals, respectively. Next in line is Ava Stryker, with 63 to help lead a pack of six Trojans with 30 or more goals to date. In all, 17 Trojans have scored at least one goal in 2025, including six with their first goals as Trojans. Defensively, all four USC goalies have factored into USC's 26-2 record — all of whom have set career highs already this year. Junior Jada Ward has started 24 games for the Trojans, and she hauled in a career-high 13 saves in USC's win over Hawai'i earlier this season along with back-to-back 11-save outings at the BKI. Overall, the goalie group averages 7.5 saves per game to anchor a Trojan defense giving up 9.1 goals per game. USC has outscored opponents 497-256 so far, while holding teams scoreless in 10 different periods to date. Offensively, USC is averaging 17.8 goals per game.
CLIMB ON
Both Emily Ausmus and Tilly Kearns have broken the 80-goal barrier this season — now two of just six Trojans to have done so in a single season and the first USC duo to each score 80 or more in the same season since Sofia Konoukh (104) and Aniko Pelle (81) in 2001. Ausmus' continues to expand on her new USC record for goals scored by a Trojan true freshman, now with 96 goals — the third-most single-season goals scored by any Trojan. Kearns' 84 goals so far have propelled the senior up the USC career ladder, currently ranking No. 4 all-time in scoring at USC with 246 goals. Also on the rise in the USC career ranks is sophomore Ava Stryker, who crossed the 100-goal mark recently and now hold 112 career goals in under two seasons of work as a Trojan. Junior goalie Jada Ward also has joined elite company, ranked No. 10 all-time in career saves at USC with 189 total stops to date.
EMILY PULLS EVEN
USC freshman Emily Ausmus tied the conference record for most MPSF Newcomer of the Week selections in picking up her seventh award last week. She's even with fellow Olympians Paige Hauschild (USC, 2018) and Maddie Musselman (UCLA, 2017). Ausmus broke the 90-goal barrier — just the third Trojan in program history to do so in a single season — in scoring eight goals across USC's two MPSF wins in its last weekend of action at home. She scored three goals on four shots and added an assist in spite of two early exclusions during USC's 18-13 win over No. 11 Arizona State. The next day against No. 13 San José State, Ausmus scored a game-high five goals along with two assists and a steal in USC's 17-8 win over the Spartans.
ON REPEAT
In back-to-back weeks, USC claimed both MPSF awards, notching another sweep with Tilly Kearns' first MPSF Player of the Week award of the season and Emily Ausmus' second MPSF Newcomer of the Week selection on Feb. 10. The two Trojan Olympians were instrumental in top-ranked USC's 19-15 win over No. 6 UC Irvine, while also helping lift USC to a 24-7 win over Biola in the Trojans' home opener. Kearns scored five goals against the Anteaters after tallying two against the Eagles. Also against UCI, Kearns drew an exclusion and had a steal. In the win over Biola, she had three steals and an assist along with a drawn exclusion. Ausmus also scored five goals in USC's win over UC Irvine after hitting a career-high six goals vs. the Eagles. She also served up three assists and had three steals and a field block in the win over the Anteaters while going 5-of-6 shooting. Against Biola, she added two assists and two steals to her six goals on eight shots.
SWEEPS WEEK
USC landed a pair of Trojans on the MPSF's weekly honor roll for the first time this season following USC's run to the 2025 Triton Invitational championship. For their key roles in a powerful 4-0 run at the event that was topped with a title-winning victory over rival UCLA, Rachel Gazzaniga was named MPSF Player of the Week and Emily Ausmus the MPSF Newcomer of the Week. Gazzaniga scored a career-high four goals — including a run of three straight goals during the second half — to help USC beat No. 1 UCLA 14-11 in the championship game at the Triton Invitational. She finished with nine goals at the event, having scored in all four games for the Trojans as USC also beat CMS 30-8 and No. 21 UC Davis 17-9 in group play and No. 5 Hawai'i 17-9 in the semifinals. Gazzaniga scored twice and had an assist, steal and block vs. CMS. Against UC Davis, she also scored twice and added an assist and steal along with two drawn exclusions. In the win over the Rainbow Wahine she had a goal, assist and steal. Gazzaniga also had three drawn exclusions vs. the Bruins, helping USC stay undefeated on the season at 8-0 after winning the Trojans' second Triton Invite title in the last three years. A freshman, Ausmus scored 12 goals to help USC win the Triton Invitational championship. She scored twice and had three assists in the title game against UCLA. She opened the event with five goals in a 30-8 USC win over CMS, then had a hat trick in a 17-9 win over UC Davis to wrap group play. In the semifinal vs. Hawai'i, Ausmus scored twice and had four assists and a steal to help USC to a 17-9 win over the Rainbow Wahine. Ausmus has scored multiple goals in all eight games for USC this season. Gazzaniga and Ausmus are the first Trojans to earn weekly honors from the conference this season, and this is the first set of such honors for both.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Almost half of USC's scoring was generated by just five Trojan freshmen and sophomores last year, led by All-Americans Rachel Gazzaniga and Ava Stryker with 49 goals apiece. That dynamic duo gained extra experience as teammates with Team USA in a gold-medal run at the recent Pan American Games alongside incoming freshman and 2024 Olympian Emily Ausmus. Along with Ausmus, who deferred her enrollment in 2023-24 to compete with Team USA in Paris, USC welcomes a total of five newcomers to the pool for this 2025 campaign. Also boasting international experience are true freshman Alma Yaacobi (Israel) and junior transfer Sinia Plotz (Germany). Southern California products Ava Knepper and Sofia Umeda are also tabbed as quick impact players for the Trojans in their first season ahead.
VETERAN VIPS
Two-time Olympian and 2024 silver medalist Tilly Kearns plunges back into action at USC, where she is one of a five-woman senior class setting up for their final season as Trojans. Laine Hourigan, Emma Lawson, Sally McCarthy and Isabel Zimmerman all bring veteran experience to the 2025 Trojan talent pool. Lawson and junior Maggie Johnson are USC's team captains this season, joined by Kearns, Zimmerman, junior Morgan Netherton and sophomore Gazzaniga on head coach Casey Moon's Leadership Council, which serves as a guiding force for the Trojans.
STAYING CENTERED
USC's center play is anchored by Tilly Kearns and Alma Yaacobi on the offensive end, and is balanced by the defensive savvy of Emily Ausmus and Rachel Gazzaniga as guards. Gazzaniga and Madison Haaland-Ford also add offensive options at the two-meter slot for the Trojans.
ATTACK MODE
USC's perimeter attack features a number of Trojan sharpshooters. Along with the more veteran talent of Morgan Netherton and Isabel Zimmerman, sophomores Rachel Gazzaniga, Ava Stryker and Meghan McAninch have proven their worth on the perimeter, with further reinforcements coming in from newcomers Sinia Plotz, Ausmus and Kearns. Additional depth from the bench comes from Hannah Carver and Jelena Sarac, who scored their first goals as Trojans last season, along with another redshirt sophomore in Caitlin Cohen.
CAGE FIGHTERS
On the defensive end of the pool, USC also boasts a connected unit of goalies. Laine Hourigan and Jada Ward both have logged time in the cage the last two seasons. They're joined by two other Trojan goalies in redshirt freshmen Anna Reed and Lauren Schneider as USC's goalkeeping corps for 2025.
LAST SEASON
In 2024, USC went 18-9 overall in a season that saw the Trojans make a 20th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament in Casey Moon's first season as full-time head coach for the Trojans. USC tied for second in MPSF regular-season play at 4-2 and finished fourth at the MPSF Tournament. At the NCAA tourney, the Trojans fell in the quarterfinals to Stanford. USC's 2024 team was led in scoring by freshmen Rachel Gazzaniga and Ava Stryker with 49 goals apiece. Both earned All-America honors along with seniors Alejandra Aznar and Julia Janov.
THE PLACE TO BE.
The University of Southern California is the undeniable, unequaled and unquestioned top destination for student-athletes. USC is both home to 136 national team championships and one of the top-ranked private research institutions in the world. Located in the heart of the thriving Los Angeles metropolitan area, it is situated in one of the most diverse and visible media markets in the world. USC's campus is driving distance from the beautiful beaches of Southern California, the majestic mountains range of the Sierra Nevada, the sprawling splendor of the Redwood and Sequoia national forests, and the mysterious Mojave Desert. •
