Jan. 20, 1998

USC Athletics the Week in Review / Preview

LAST WEEK
Sport                          Record   Conf.       Nat'l Rank              Last Week 
Men's Basketball                6-10     2-4                                lost to Stanford, 99-62, lost to California, 92-82     
Women's Basketball              7-8      2-4                                lost to Stanford, 89-55, def. California, 59-50 
Men's Golf                                          12th (Golfweek)         none
Women's Golf                                        20th (Rolex)            none
Men's Swimming and Diving       4-0      2-0        t2nd (Speedo)           def. Cal State Bakersfield, 192-80, def. UC Irvine, 162.5-41.5 
Women's Swimming and Diving     4-0      2-0        5th  (Speedo)           def. UC Irvine, 241-30, def. Texas A&M, 157-105 
Men's Volleyball                7-3      0-1        11th (VB Mag.)          def. Cal State San Bernardino, 3-0 
Men's Tennis                    1-0      0-0        11th (Rolex)            def. UC Santa Barbara, 4-3              

Season Complete         Record  Conf. Finish    National Finish     Notes 
Women's Cross Country               6th          30th (Coaches)     Penc 11th at District VIII Meet 
Football                 6-5        4-4 (t5th)                      Kelly, Claiborne All-Pac-10 1st team 
Women's Volleyball      23-6     13-5(t2nd)      9th (AVCA)         Marinkovic All-American 1st team 
Women's Soccer          16-3-1      7-2 (2nd)    23rd (Soccer Buzz) Clark All-American 3rd team 
Men's Water Polo        21-7        5-3 (1st)    2nd                Cimerman All-American 1st team 

This Week

Men's Volleyball, at Cal State Northridge, 7 p.m.

Men's Tennis, vs. BYU, Marks Tennis Stadium, 1:30 p.m.

Men's Basketball, at UCLA, 7:30 p.m.

Women's Tennis, vs. UC Santa Barbara, Marks Tennis Stadium, 1:30 p.m.

Men's Volleyball, vs. Hawai'i, North Gym, 5 p.m.

Women's Basketball vs. UCLA, Lyon Center, 7 p.m.

Swimming, vs. UC Santa Barbara and Nevada, McDonald's Swim Stadium, 1 p.m.

Men's Volleyball, vs. Hawai'i, North Gym, 7 p.m.

Women's Tennis, vs. Utah, Marks Tennis Stadium, Noon

USC lost a pair of Pac-10 games on the road, falling to Stanford, 99-62, and California, 92-82.

The 37-point loss to the Cardinal was USC's worst since 1992. Sophomore forward Jarvis Turner scored 15 points off the bench, but the Trojans shot just 40.4 percent from the field.

Against the Bears, the Trojans started the second half with consecutive baskets to take a 39-38 lead, but the Bears answered with a 17-3 run. Senior guard Gary Johnson's 18 points led five Trojans that scored in double-figures.

USC earned a split last weekend at the Lyon Center, losing to Stanford, 89-55, but defeating California, 59-50, to snap a four-game losing streak. The loss to the Cardinal was USC's worst of the season. The Women of Troy got 20 points from junior guard Kristin Clark and 10 from freshman forward Tashara Carter, but were outshot by the Cardinal, .611 to .327. USC bounced back two days later against Cal as it increased its defensive pressure. The Women of Troy held the Bears to .286 shooting from the floor in the second half and took the lead for good at 38-37 with 12:06 to play. Clark scored 17 points, junior center Adrain Williams had 16 points and 10 rebounds and junior forward Adria Sneed had a career-high 10 rebounds in her first career start.

While both men's and women's swim teams each won a pair of dual meets over the weekend, the big news was in Australia, where senior Lenny Krayzelburg won gold medals in the 100 and 200-meter backstroke at the World Championships. He is the first American ever to win both backstroke events at the World Championships. Krayzelburg also won a silver medal in the 400-meter medley relay as he swam leadoff. Junior Lindsay Benko earned a silver in the 800-meter free relay, and former Trojan swimmer and current student assistant coach David Meca picked up a silver in the 25K.

At the McDonald's Swim Stadium on Saturday, the men defeated Cal State Bakersfield (192-80) and UC Irvine (162.5-41.5) and the women beat Texas A&M (157-105) and UC Irvine (241-30).

Kyle Spencer, a senior, defeated UC Santa Barbara's Ross Duncan, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, in the day's final match to lift the Trojans to a 4-3 victory over the Gauchos last Friday at Marks Tennis Stadium. Senior George Bastl and senior Fernando Samayoa also had singles wins, while the doubles teams of Bastl-Spencer, Patrick Gottesleben-Akram Zaman and Scott Willinsky-Samayoa all were victorious.

Sophomore Veronika Safarova fared best among three USC players at the Pac-10 Indoor Championships in Washington, reaching the finals of the Flight 1 Singles Consolation bracket. She lost her first match, then won the next two before losing in the final.

The Trojans defeated Cal State San Bernardino, 15-5, 15-6, 15-6, on the road last Wednesday night, but lost to No. 4 Long Beach State, 15-4, 15-11, 15-13, on Saturday night in the North Gym in the MPSF opener for both schools. Junior middle blocker Omar Rawi had 12 kills and five blocks and freshman outside hitter Eli Fairfield had 10 kills against the Coyotes. In the loss to the 49ers, senior middle blocker Szilard Kovacs had 15 kills and four blocks.

Krayzelburg, a senior, won two gold medals and a silver at the World Championships. He became the first American ever to win both the 100 and 200 backstrokes.