USC Women's Water Polo: Top-Ranked Trojans Defending Triton Invitational Title This Weekend
After beginning their 2024 season with an epic 20-3 victory over Concordia to kick off San Diego's Triton Invitational on Friday at La Jolla High School, your No. 1-ranked (according to a USC press statement) USC Trojans women's water polo team followed that up with a 16-9 victory over the No. 10-ranked University of Michigan Wolverines this morning, per USC's official Twitter/X account.
USC is currently the defending champion at San Diego's Triton Invitational. Last year, in the 2023 Triton Invitational championship game, USC beat crosstown rival UCLA in a 10-8 overtime win. From that group, USC retains an absolutely elite defense, led by redshirt senior goalie Carolyn Stern, redshirt senior attacker Alejandra Aznar, junior utility Honnie Vandeweghe-O'Shea, sophomore goalie Jada Ward, and redshirt sophomore goalie Laine Hourigan.
Being the defending champ or the top seed in tournaments and invitationals has been pretty much par for the course with the team for decades now. The USC women's water polo program stands out as one of the most decorated in the entire school (which is saying something!), having won six titles between 2004 and 2021.
Tonight, the Trojans currently find themselves in the midst of a semifinal battle against Fresno State. Placement games tip off tomorrow morning, and will end with a championship game at 12:40 p.m. PT.