#TBT: USC WWP Wins First NCAA Title Under Casey Moon
Photo Courtesy: USC Athletics
As our MPSF's Summer Series "Throwback Thursdays" continue, we highlight the 2026 USC Women's Water Polo NCAA Championship team.
Rachel Gazzaniga was assisted by Morgan Netherton on a fourth quarter power play goal and ultimate game-winner, while USC’s defense locked down with a 6-on-5 stop in the final seconds, leading to the program’s first NCAA celebration under Casey Moon as full-time head coach. USC never trailed in the 10-9 final and was tied by California just twice, both in the first period, en route to an eighth women’s water polo national championship.
Peter J. Cutino Award winner and MPSF Player of the Year Emily Ausmus accumulated six goals and three assists through the three-day NCAA Tournament en route to MVP honors. USC goalkeeper Anna Reed recorded a career-high 14 saves in the final, including one on a 6-on-5 with 18 seconds left in the contest, while helping limit California to single-digit scoring for just the fourth time all year. Ava Stryker and Sinia Plotz added two goals apiece, with the latter also collecting a pair of steals. Ausmus, Reed, and
Stryker were named to the NCAA All-Tournament First Team, while Gazzaniga was named to the second team.
“‘Fun’ would be the defining word of this team and I don’t know how anyone would get through this if you weren’t having fun," Reed remarked in a post-championship press conference. "We also make sure everyone knows their role is important and everyone matters on this team.”
Moon, the 2026 National Coach of the Year, won his first title as full-time head coach though had been on staff for the Women of Troy in five previous title years. “The number one thing we have on our team is resiliency and a ‘hate to lose’ mentality,” Moon noted following the title game. “They really balanced that well with joy and had been really focused on that since day one.”
The Trojans’ national championship marked the MPSF’s 30th-Straight in women's water polo, winning each year since becoming an intercollegiate sport in 1996. The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship game featured an All-MPSF final for the 21st-straight year and in 24 of the 25 contested years. USC’s eighth title resulted in the MPSF’s 125th total national championship across nine different sports, and would be the fourth of a record-setting six for the conference during the academic year.
Follow the MPSF and its Throwback Thursdays on the conference website at
https://mpsports.org/ and on social media @MPSFSports.