No. 2 USC Women’s Water Polo Stumbles In Barbara Kalbus Invite Semis To No. 4 Stanford

IRVINE, CALIF. — The No. 2 USC women's water polo team will play for third place at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational after following a 16-5 win over No. 13 Long Beach State with a 16-10 loss to No. 4 Stanford in the semifinals today in Irvine. USC faces No. 4 Hawai'i tomorrow (Feb. 27) at 11:45 a.m. to vie for third place at the event.

USC got right down to business in the morning matchup with No. 13 Long Beach State, tacking up the first five goals of the day on a pair apiece from Tilly Kearns and Bayley Weber before Honnie Vandeweghe-O'shea tallied her first of three goals in the game to make it a 5-0 USC lead. Tehaney tucked in one last goal for the Trojans before the end of the frame as USC led it 6-1 after eight minutes of action. Carolyne Stern checked out of the cage to give way to Erin Tharp for the next three periods, and the redshirt junior registered six saves — including a 5-meter penalty stop — down the stretch while the Trojans continued to expand their lead over the Beach. By the final buzzer, Kearns and Vandeweghe-O'Shea paced the Trojans with three goals apiece, leading a group of nine Trojans scorers in the 16-5 final victory. 

In the semifinal bout with No. 4 Stanford, USC scored first, but the Cardinal scored the next five to put the Trojans on their heels. USC carved the deficit down to on when Sabrina Garabet got a lob to go to make it 5-4 in the second, only to see Stanford pad its lead to 7-4 by halftime. USC had it at a two-goal game after Paige Hauschild and Mireia Guiral  went back-to-back in the third, making it 9-7. Stanford scored again, though, and USC was in a 10-7 hole entering the fourth. USC was unable to reel in the Cardinal in the final stretch, and Stanford scored the spot in the title match with a 16-10 win over the Trojans.

BARBARA KALBUS INVITATIONAL

GROUP PLAY
#2 USC 16, #13 Long Beach State 5
Feb. 26, 2022 | Anteater Aquatics Complex (Irvine, Calif.)
USC    6 - 5 - 3 - 2 = 16
LBSU    1 - 1 - 2 - 1 = 5

SCORING:
USC — Tilly Kearns 3, Honnie Vandeweghe-O'Shea 3, Bayley Weber 2, Grace Tehaney 2, Mireia Guiral 2, Paige Hauschild, Sabrina Garabet, Christina Crum, Brooklyn Aguilera.
LBSU — Elena Kotanchyan 3, Orsi Hoertzka, Marilia Eleni Mimides.

SAVES: Carolyne Stern (USC) 1 [1st period], Erin Tharp (USC) 6, Chelsea Oliver (LBSU) 1 [1st  period], Inbar Geva (LBSU) 4. 

SEMIFINAL
#4 Stanford 16, #2 USC 10
Feb. 26, 2022 | Anteater Aquatics Complex (Irvine, Calif.)
USC    3 - 1 - 3 - 3 = 10
STAN    5 - 2 - 3 - 6 = 16

SCORING:
USC — Paige Hauschild 3, Grace Tehaney 2, Tilly Kearns 2, Mireia Guiral, Sabrina Garabet, Honnie Vandeweghe-O'Shea.
STAN — Makenzie Fischer 6, Chloe Harbilas 3, Jewel Roemer 2, Aria Fischer 2, Ryann Neushul 2, Katie Lyons.

SAVES: Carolyne Stern (USC) 9, Maya Avital (STAN) 7.