USC Is Favored in 16-Team Event

The Division I women’s championship will be determined this weekend at UC Davis, and so will Southern California bragging rights.

The national tournament gets underway today, the winner to be crowned Sunday. And of the 16 teams competing, four of them are area schools--USC, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State.

The Bruins are the three-time defending national champion. But the Trojans are the team to beat in this one.

After attaining the nation’s No. 1 ranking for the first time in program history in February, USC (26-2) is the tournament’s top-ranked team and will open against 16th-seeded Indiana (21-14). The Trojans are 3-0 all-time against the Hoosiers and, with an NCAA title, would complete a water polo sweep, since the men won the title in December.

Leading the Trojans is freshman Aniko Pelle from Hungary. She has 47 goals, was the most valuable player of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament and the only two-time MPSF player of the week.

The Bruins (21-9) are seeded fourth, opening against 13th-seeded Maryland (22-8).

UCLA is also led by a freshman, Elaine Zivich of Lompoc. She has 55 goals, second most by a local player.

Long Beach State junior Elizabeth Garcia scored a school-record 56 goals, leading the 49ers (14-20) to their first NCAA tournament berth. The 11th-seeded 49ers open against sixth-seeded San Diego State (20-18), the third-place team in the MPSF tournament.

Eighth-seeded UC Santa Barbara (15-15) will open against ninth-seeded San Jose State (16-20).