USC wins national championship in women’s water polo

SAN DIEGO —- The USC women’s water polo team won its third national championship in dramatic fashion by beating top-seeded Stanford, 10-9, at San Diego State’s Aztec Aquaplex on Sunday. The second-seeded Trojans were ahead by four goals in the fourth quarter before Stanford closed to within one in the final minute.

USC finishes the season with a 25-3 record. USC’s last NCAA title came in 2004, and this year marked the Trojans’ seventh consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. For USC Coach Jovan Vavic, it is his eighth national championship (five men’s and three women’s), and it is the third time that he has claimed men’s and women’s national titles back to back. USC won the 1998 men’s championship, followed by the women’s 1999 title; the 2003 men’s and 2004 women’s crowns; and now the 2008 and 2009 men’s titles, followed by the 2010 women’s championship.

In other matches Sunday:

Loyola Marymount finished in fourth place, losing to California, 11-7; UCLA defeated Michigan, 9-6, to finish fifth; and Pomona-Pitzer finished eighth, losing to Marist, 6-5.