Around the League: Long Beach to challenge USC water polo, Bruin nominated for CLASS award
USC water polo coach Jovan Vavic holds the record for most team titles of any USC head coach in history with 14 national championships. Vavic enters his 22nd season at the helm of the Trojan’s water polo program and has guided the team to a 15-1 start and a number three ranking this year. (Creative Commons photo by Kevin Tsukii/Neon Tommy via Flickr)
While Bruin athletes continue competing in Westwood, here’s a look at some of the biggest news from the rest of the Pac-12.
Men’s Water Polo
Michael Hull, assistant Sports editor
The last time No. 6 Long Beach State (11-5, 1-0 Golden Coast Conference) played a top-three team at home, it was a Saturday September evening against the No. 1 team in the country. The 49ers were ranked seventh, and held the Bruins to six goals through four quarters, putting up three goals in the fourth to send the game to overtime.
This weekend, Long Beach hosts No. 3 USC (15-1, 1-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), which is riding a seven-game win streak after taking down No. 7 UC Santa Barbara 16-6 four days ago.
The Trojans’ closest margin of victory – four goals – came against No. 5 Stanford on Sept. 17. Since then, they’ve had spreads as wide as 19, and since the Mountain Pacific Invitational haven’t scored less than 15 a game.
Long Beach has averaged nearly 13 goals a game since that tournament. But the determining factor could be the gold rush – the sellout 738 person crowd at Lindgren Aquatics Center when the Bruins visited nearly helped the 49ers end UCLA’s win streak at 43.
Men’s Tennis
Hanson Wang, assistant Sports editor.
One way or another a Cal Bear was winning the United States Tennis Association/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Northwest Regional Championships.
Top-seeded Andre Goransson defeated his fellow fifth-seeded Filip Bergevi 6-4, 7-6(3) in Monday’s final. Goransson won each of his six matches in straight sets.
With the win, Goransson qualified for next month’s USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in Flushing Meadows. In last year’s Indoor Intercollegiate Championships’ singles final, he fell to Tulane’s Dominik Koepfer in straight sets.
In the doubles final of the Northwest Regional Championships, Stanford’s Sameer Kumar and Yale Goldberg bested Oregon’s Jayson Amos and Simon Stevens in three sets, cementing their spot in Flushing Meadows.
Men’s Soccer
Grant Sugimura, assistant Sports editor
This week, the Pac-12 sustains its foothold in the NSCAA top 25. Stanford sits on top at No. 12, followed by Washington at No. 17 and then UCLA at No. 24.
Stanford forward Corey Baird was named the NSCAA College Player of the Week. The junior notched his first three assists of the season over the past two games. Baird is now ninth in program history with 20 assists in his career. This is the Cardinal’s second consecutive player of the week.
UCLA’s defender Michael Amick and Stanford defender Brian Nana-Sinkam have been nominated for the Senior Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School Award along with 28 of their fellow athletes. This award goes to a NCAA Division I senior who has notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
Notable matches for this week include No. 12 Stanford at San Diego State and unranked Cal at UCLA on Thursday, unranked Gonzaga at Washington on Friday and Cal at San Diego State and No. 12 Stanford at UCLA on Sunday.
Off the pitch, the NSCAA gave out honors to Oregon State and Stanford in regards to their academic performances. The Beavers were able to achieve a 3.14 team GPA while the Cardinal earned a 3.39 – tied for 35th among all NCAA men’s soccer teams in all divisions.
