USC Women’s Water Polo Closes 2024 Season In NCAA Quarterfinals

BERKELEY, CALIF. — The USC women's water polo team couldn't overcome a sluggish start in the NCAA Quarterfinals, falling in an 8-3 decision to No. 4 seeded Stanford today at Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley, Calif. The No. 5 seeded Trojans had earned their 20th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, and finish the season with an 18-9 overall record. 

An early defensive stalemate was broken by the Cardinal at the 2:30 mark, and a late strike out of set followed to stake Stanford to a 2-0 lead after eight minutes of action. The Cardinal delivered two more even goals to go up 4-0, and the Stanford defense was able to keep the Trojans out of the cage through halftime. USC's offensive struggles stretched into the third until Morgan Netherton found Ava Stryker for a fine finish that broke USC's silence and got the Trojans on the board, down 6-1, with 3:47 on the clock in the third. On a USC 6-on-5 two minutes later, Netherton found Alejandra Aznar, who sizzled in a left-handed laser to make it a 6-2 margin. An unlucky USC defensive deflection would wrap the third with Stanford holding a 7-2 advantage. That lead bumped up to an 8-2 advantage with a power play goal in the fourth, although USC would answer back with a 6-on-5 slam from Abigail Hendrix to make it 8-3. Try as they may, the Trojans were unable to crack the Cardinal defense in the final four minutes, leaving USC short of the NCAA semifinals and with an 18-9 overall record on the year.

NOTABLE:
- SR goalie Carolyne Stern closes down her USC career ranked No. 4 all-time in career saves with 575.
- SR Alejandra Aznar finishes her USC career ranked No. 18 all-time in career scoring with 144 goals. 
- FR Rachel Gazzaniga and FR Ava Stryker finish tied as USC's top scorers on the season with 49 goals each.

NCAA QUARTERFINALS
[4] Stanford 8, [5] USC 3
Friday, May 10 | Spieker Aquatics Complex (Berkeley, Calif.)
USC    0 - 0 - 2 - 1 = 3
STAN  2 - 2 - 3 - 1 = 8

SCORING:
USC — Ava Stryker, Alejandra Aznar, Abigail Hendrix.
STAN — Kamryn Barone 2, Sophia Sanders 2, Christina Hicks, Sam Sternfels, Celeste Wijnbelt, Quinn Healy.

SAVES: Carolyne Stern (USC) 4, Maya Avital (STAN) 10, Caroline Carpenter (STAN) 1.