By Will Baxley on SwimSwam
This Sunday, the No. 3 University of Southern California women’s water polo team earned the 2026 NCAA title in a 10-9 final against No 4. Cal Berkeley.
This marked the eighth NCAA title for the Lady Trojans water polo team and their first since 2021. The final, which was held on UC San Diego’s campus in La Jolla, California, featured a number of heroes for Southern California. Namely, tournament MVP and sophomore attacker Emily Ausmus accumulated nine points throughout the tournament: six goals and three assists.
In the goal, fellow Trojan sophomore Anna Reed recorded a career-high 14 goals in addition to three steals in goal. These two women made the NCAA All-Tournament First Team, as did teammate Ava Stryker. Junior striker Rachel Gazzaniga represented USC on the All-Tournament Second Team.
These four women led their team to the 10-9 victory that saw USC take the lead by one point in the first quarter and largely hold that one point lead for the rest of the game. Sinia Plotz netted the first goal of the game, and she would go on to match Stryker and Ausmus as the Trojan’s highest scorers with two points each. Throughout the game, Plotz went a perfect two-for-two in steals.
Cal did a fantastic job at keeping their rivals at bay and never letting them get too far ahead. The standout player for Cal was sophomore center and Hungarian national Ezster Varró, who was the only player on either team to net three goals in te final.
To reach the final, the two teams faced off with two other California rivals: Stanford and UCLA. Cal managed to defeat its number one-ranked rival across the bay 13-11, while USC emerged atop No. 2 UCLA 11-10. Stanford was the reigning champion, while USC was last year’s runner-up. For Cal, it marked their second final appearance of the decade after finishing 2nd to UCLA in 2024.
2026 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Tournament Standings
First Place – USC
Second Place – Cal Berkeley
Semifinalists – Stanford, UCLA
Quarterfinalists – Wagner, Hawai’i, Harvard, Loyola Marymount
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