Oct. 6, 1997

USC's Pintaric Earns Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Water Polo Honors

DENVER, Colo. - USC junior Marko Pintaric of Zagreb, Croatia, has been named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation water polo player of the week.

Pintaric led the Trojans over archrival UCLA with a game-high five points, including a two-point goal. It was the first meeting between the two schools since last year's NCAA championship game, which UCLA won. Pintaric has been USC's most productive player by far over the early part of the season with 26 goals and 28 points. The newcomer has led Troy in scoring five of the nine games. USC is 7-2 overall and 1-1 in conference competition.

Also nominated for player of the week were: Phinney Gardner, California; Ryan Williams, UC Irvine; Brett Stern, UCLA; Ryan Peddycord, UC Santa Barbara; Matt Sakatini, Long Beach State; Brian Basye, Pacific; Alan Hermann, Pepperdine; and Chris Aguillara, Stanford.