Sept. 22, 1997

USC Athletics Week in Review / Preview

Sport                   Record  Conf.Record   Nat'l Rank    Last Week
Women's Cross Country   --      --              --          none
Football                0-2     0-0             --          none
Men's Golf              --      --              --          21st at Tucker Invitational
Women's Soccer          6-1-1   0-0             --          def. Cal State Fullerton, 6-0 tied San Jose State, 0-0
Women's Volleyball      9-0     2-0             8th (AVCA)  def. Arizona State, 3-0 def. Arizona, 3-0
Men's Water Polo        5-1     0-0             2nd (AWPCA) def. Long Beach State, 15-8 2nd at Southern California Tournament
This Week
Thursday:   
    Women's Golf, at New Mexico "Dick McGuire Invitational", through Saturday 
Friday: 
    Women's Soccer, vs. Loyola Marymount, L.A. Coliseum, 3 p.m.
    Men's Water Polo, vs. UC Davis, at California, 3 p.m.
    Women's Volleyball, at Washington State, 7 p.m.
Saturday:   
    Men's Water Polo, at California, 10 a.m.
    Football, at California, 4 p.m. (ABC-TV)
    Women's Volleyball, at Washington, 7 p.m.
    Women's Cross Country, at UC Riverside Invitational
Sunday: 
    Women's Soccer, vs. North Korean National Team, L.A. Coliseum, 1 p.m.

Men's Golf
The Trojans opened the season with a 21st-place finish out of 23 teams at the William H. Tucker Invitational, hosted by New Mexico. Sophomore Nick Webb and freshman Michael Chavez were the Trojans' top finishers, each shooting a 150 and tying for 64th place.

Women's Soccer
USC had mixed results last weekend, hammering Cal State Fullerton, 6-0, on Friday where it seemed every shot found the back of the net, but then tying San Jose State, 0-0, on Sunday in which nothing was working. Both games were at the Coliseum.

Freshman forward Megan Orach tied a school single-game record with eight points against the Titans, and she did it all in the first half with three goals and two assists. Sophomore midfielder Kim Clark had three assists and sophomore forward Kaylee Whitfield scored two goals.

Against the Spartans, however, USC took a season-high 30 shots without success. San Jose State took 14 shots, but senior goalkeeper Laura Badagliacco was on the top of her game, making 10 saves.

"We got an outstanding effort against Fullerton," USC Coach Jim Millinder said. "I told Megan that she was going to have a breakout game soon. It was just one of those days against San Jose State. Their goalkeeper had a career day, but we can't afford to miss from a yard away from the goal. Laura had a great day. She came up big for us."

Women's Volleyball
USC posted a pair of dominant sweeps in its first Pac-10 weekend, defeating Arizona State on Friday, 15-4, 15-3, 15-4, and downing Arizona on Saturday, 15-1, 15-4, 15-3. Against the Sun Devils, junior middle blocker Jasmina Marinkovic continued her torrid play with 13 kills on 17 attempts without an error (.765). Junior outside hitter Jennifer Kessy was almost as impressive with a match-high 16 kills and 10 digs. The Women of Troy hit a season-high .447 and held the Sun Devils to an opponent-low of minus-.014.

Against the Wildcats, Marinkovic led another ferocious offensive performance with 10 kills on 13 attempts without an error (.769). As a team, USC outhit Arizona, .446 to .087. Freshman outside hitter Shannon Redfern posted seven service aces, a USC season high and only one away from USC's record for a three-game match.

Men's Water Polo
The Trojans placed second at their own Southern California Tournament, falling to Pepperdine, 8-7, in the final. Previously, USC defeated Long Beach State, 11-4, UC San Diego, 8-4, and UC Irvine, 9-7. Senior driver Simun Cimerman and junior driver Marko Pintaric made the All-Tournament first team, while sophomore 2-meter man James Castle and sophomore goalie Richard McEvoy made the second team.

"I'm proud of our team because we played hard," USC Coach John Williams said. "It was a tough loss. We just didn't convert when we needed to. Overall, we played very well. The tournament was a great success. We had great crowds and the Sunday competition was tremendous. The championship game was truly exciting."

Earlier in the week, USC defeated the 49ers, 15-8, as Pintaric scored five points.

Athletes of the Week

Jasmina Marinkovic, Women's Volleyball
Marinkovic, a junior middle blocker, led the nation in hitting percentage last week and did nothing to hurt her numbers with 23 kills on 30 attempts with an amazing zero errors, a hitting average of .767.

Megan Orach, Women's Soccer
Orach, a freshman forward, tied a USC single-game record for points with eight against Cal State Fullerton -- and she did it all in the first half. She played a part in all five of USC's first-half goals, getting three goals and two assists.

Marko Pintaric, Men's Water Polo
Pintaric, a junior driver, scored five points in the win over Long Beach State, then was USC's top scorer at the Southern California Tournament with nine points in the four games. He earned first team All-Tournament honors.