{"id":253286,"date":"2017-04-28T10:00:33","date_gmt":"2017-04-28T17:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=253286"},"modified":"2017-04-30T18:46:04","modified_gmt":"2017-05-01T01:46:04","slug":"mpsf-tournament-central-catching-up-with-uscs-jovan-vavic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-tournament-central-catching-up-with-uscs-jovan-vavic\/","title":{"rendered":"MPSF Tournament Central: Catching Up with USC Coach Jovan Vavic"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor<\/em><\/p>\n

LOS ANGELES, CA. Over the next three days Swimming World<\/em> will cover the 2017 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation\u2019s (MPSF) Women\u2019s Water Polo tournament, to be held April 28-30 at UCLA\u2019s Spieker Aquatics Center.<\/p>\n

Featuring the country\u2019s top five programs<\/a>\u2014#1 UCLA, #2 Stanford, #3 USC, #4 Arizona State and #5 (T) Cal\u2014the MPSF Tournament is one of the top non-Olympic tournaments in the world. Four of these teams will almost certainly qualify for the 2017 NCAA Women\u2019s Water Polo Tournament<\/strong>, with the MPSF champs assured of both the tournament\u2019s top seed and a bye into the Final Four.<\/p>\n

In Friday\u2019s opening round Stanford will play CSU Bakerfield, USC will face San Jose State and Arizona State plays Cal. The Sun Devils vs. Bears match is perhaps the most important of the tournament; the loser will no longer have a shot at NCAAs while the winner is very much alive for one of the tournament\u2019s three at-large berths.<\/p>\n

Last year four MPSF teams made it to NCAAs, and in a year where the competition is as good as at any time in MPSF history, the conference is likely to again send four teams.<\/p>\n

Prior to tournament play, Swimming World<\/em> spoke with Jovan Vavic<\/strong>, head coach for the USC men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams. One of the most decorated coach in NCAA water polo history, in an illustrious career at Southern Cal Vavic has captured a total of 14 NCAA titles\u2014nine men\u2019s and five women\u2019s\u2014while winning National Coach of the Year honors 13 times. From 2008 \u2013 2013 his men\u2019s team captured an unprecedented six-straight NCAA titles, and last fall ended archrival UCLA\u2019s 57-match win streak. Earlier this month his women\u2019s program, defending MPSF and NCAA champs, had its record 52-match winning streak snapped by Stanford.<\/p>\n

Coach Vavic spoke about his program\u2019s success, the challenges his current team faces defending their MPSF and NCAA titles, what has been one of the most talented years ever in U.S. women\u2019s varsity water polo, and imagining a future for Trojan polo without the incomparable Stephania Haralabidis and her twin sister Ioanna.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a memorable year for USC water polo. In the fall your Trojans snapped the Bruins record win streak, and this spring your women fashioned an NCAA-best winning streak of their own\u2014accomplishments that will be remembered long after the season is over.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I always tell people that streaks are nice because you get used to winning. You always try to win as many games as possible but we really don\u2019t talk about it that much.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fun while it lasts but we always prepare that the next game maybe isn\u2019t going to be a great one.<\/p>\n

After having your record win streak snapped by Stanford, what do you think your team has learned going into the MPSF Tournament?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I learned way back in February the same thing I learned when we lost in April [to Stanford]. I don\u2019t think my players learned [it] and that is we are giving up too many goals. [Even] in those games that we won [10-9 win over UCLA on February 25 and 10-9 OT win over Stanford the next day] we gave up nine goals. I told the girls that was not going to be good enough, because then we played Hawaii in Honolulu and it\u2019s 8-8 with the last 30 seconds to go [USC won 9-8 to set the all-time win streak for NCAA women’s water polo].<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been trying to fix that the entire season and haven\u2019t been able to do so. If we don’t improve in that area in the next couple of weeks then we have nothing to hope for in the NCAAs.<\/p>\n

There are a slew of Olympians playing in the U.S. this year\u2014and seven will be at UCLA for the MPSF tournament. How has that impacted MPSF play this season?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You could have easily added three more from our team; if the Dutch and Greek teams went to the Olympics we would have had [Holland\u2019s Maude Megens and Greece\u2019s Ioanna and Stephania Haralabidis] because they\u2019re members of their national teams.<\/p>\n

What it does is it makes U.S.A. stronger\u2014we have the strongest league in the world and that contributes to the success of the national team because if all these players are tested on a regular basis in a strong league with many tough matches then it elevates the level of water polo in general.<\/p>\n

I really enjoy it when we have so many strong players to compete against\u2014it impacts everybody.<\/p>\n

Is it just the competition or is there something more that attracts so many great foreign players to the U.S.?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I went to college in Yugoslavia in the 1980s and we didn\u2019t have a set-up where your practices and classes were all in one place. Countries like Serbia and Croatia discourage you from going to university so that you can become a professional water polo player.<\/p>\n

Here it\u2019s the best of both worlds. [You can] focus on your studies and play water polo at the highest level. In a state like California where there\u2019s so much opportunity, it is the best of everything.<\/p>\n

I can understand why so many young people want to experience this\u2014and if somebody pays for your education I\u2019d wonder why wouldn\u2019t you do it.<\/p>\n

MPSF newcomers Maddie Musselman of UCLA and Makenzie Fisher of Stanford had great success in the 2016 Olympics and have made their mark this season on conference play.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I believe that everything starts at home and having great parents is what it takes to raise an athlete and provide then with everything they need to be successful. Both Fischer\u2019s and Musselman\u2019s parents were athletes at the highest level [Jeff Musselman played five years of major league baseball; Erich Fischer was a two-time All-American in water polo at Stanford and played for the U.S. Men\u2019s National Team in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona].<\/p>\n

Fortunately they had great coaches in high school and a great coach with the national team. The combination of these things and then having God-given length,\u00a0 talent and speed doesn\u2019t hurt.<\/p>\n

\"Mussleman_UCLA\"

Maddie Musselman. Photo Courtesy: UCLA Athletics<\/p><\/div>\n

Musselman in particular is impressive because she has accomplished so much at such a young age. Given her success\u201455 goals as a freshman as well as five against your team last week\u2014how do you stop her?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Any great player can be stopped, as long as you know their strengths and weaknesses and really work hard. When you play defense against somebody who\u2019s intelligent and tough you work hard and learn their tendencies before they happen. You have to be focused.<\/p>\n

So when she burned us in the last game we basically did the stupidest thing we could have done: we left her open. [My players] were right next to her and could have gotten to her quicker and they just didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Everyone [has to be] defending the top players and be aware of where they are. You don\u2019t guard somebody like LeBron James with just one person. If you leave him one-on-one he\u2019s going to kill you.<\/p>\n

All six players in water polo have to be aware of where that player is.<\/p>\n

Of course, you also have an exceptionally talented newcomer: Maud Megens, a freshman from the Netherlands.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"megens-usc-04-17\"

Maud Megens. Photo Courtesy: USC Athletics<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s very interesting that she also comes from an athletic family. Her mother played water polo in the Olympics and her father was also an athlete. All three of those freshmen we are discussing come from athletic families. She has great experience playing at a high level in Holland and is very capable of doing more than one thing. She\u2019s quick, explosive, strong legs. [Being] 6-2 really helps and she a very intelligent player. Playing for the national team and having so many international games helped her. She was voted second-best player in Europe last year.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll need her to step up because you\u2019ll be losing five seniors in 2017<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We lose five players: the two Greek girls, both of our centers, Brigitta Games, who contributed in the finals last year. Avery Peterson is a senior as well as Nikki Stansfield. So we lose five girls but we have two other freshmen who are actually outstanding. Denise Mammolito, before she\u2019s a senior she\u2019s going to make a name for herself. She\u2019s also about 6-2, similar in the type of player as Maud. She\u2019s younger and needs time but she\u2019s going to going to be outstanding.<\/p>\n

Kelsey McIntosh has been injured part of this season but I think she\u2019s an outstanding player. She was the CIF player of the year last year when her high school [Orange Lutheran] won a state title.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m almost positive that all three are going to be All-Americans.<\/p>\n

And, there\u2019s the incomparable <\/strong>Stephania Haralabidis, now #2 all-time in scoring [260 goals]. How has she impacted your Trojan women\u2019s water polo this season and over the past four years?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"haralbidis-usc-apr-17\"

Stephania Haralabidis Photo Courtesy: USC Athletics<\/p><\/div>\n

She really was key last season as was her sister, Ioanna, who\u2019s an outstanding defender\u2014our primary two-meter defender. The two of them changed our program last season for the better. They were outstanding as freshmen but they were not mature enough. So their maturity level now is way, way higher and now they are true leaders of our team and they understand what it takes to win.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s difficult when you come from another country to understand how you need to operate in a system. It\u2019s all about chemistry and hard work.<\/p>\n

Where they grew up it\u2019s all about competition\u2014it\u2019s us against the world. So now they’re great teammates, great fighters and they have changed our program for the better.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m hoping they will have a great three weeks at the end of the season to finish their careers on a positive note.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor LOS ANGELES, CA. Over the next three days Swimming World will cover the 2017 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation\u2019s (MPSF) Women\u2019s Water Polo tournament, to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":253290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[60864,61130,60867,61240,61242,2763,57766,37598,60870,60192,5679,61241,60862,61197,60863,61126],"class_list":["post-253286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-water-polo","tag-arizona-state-womens-water-polo","tag-brigitta-games","tag-cal-womens-water-polo","tag-csu-bakersfield-womens-water-polo","tag-ioanna-haralabidis","tag-jovan-vavic","tag-mackenzie-fischer","tag-maddie-musselman","tag-maud-megens","tag-michael-randazzo","tag-mpsf-womens-water-polo-tournament","tag-san-jose-state-womens-water-polo","tag-stanford-womens-water-polo","tag-stephania-haralabidis","tag-ucla-womens-water-polo","tag-usc-womens-water-polo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nMPSF Tournament Central: Catching Up with USC Coach Jovan Vavic - 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