INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Harvard women’s water polo fell to No. 4 USC by a score of 18-7 on Friday evening at the IU Natatorium in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

In the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance, Harvard battled with the Trojans in a nationally ranked rematch but was unable to come out on top, closing out the most successful season in program history.

HOW IT HAPPENED

USC opened the scoring to take a 1-0 lead before Ruby Hodge netted Harvard’s first-ever NCAA Tournament goal from distance. The junior took it herself and beat the Trojans’ goalkeeper short side to tie the game early in the first quarter. USC would respond with three straight goals to lead 4-1.

Hodge added her second goal late in the quarter, picking the corner to cut the lead to two, but USC answered once again in the final seconds to make it 5-2 after eight minutes.

The Trojans extended their lead with five goals in the second quarter. Emma Gilbert scored the lone Crimson goal, a highlight-reel no-look shot after spinning around a defender, making it 10-3 at the half.

Hodge completed her hat trick in the third quarter, and Maya O’Dea added two goals to help Harvard close the gap to 13-6 heading into the final frame.

USC outscored Harvard 5-1 in the fourth quarter, with Erin Kim scoring the Crimson’s final goal of the game.

HARVARD HIGHLIGHTS

Harrisonburg, Va. – Coastal Carolina track & field continued the Sun Belt Championship with the a full day of events at Sentara Park on Friday. 

Terrique Webb highlighted the day by claiming a silver medal in the men’s long jump with a score of 7.81 meters, the second-best mark in school history

Amanda Kinloch ran the quickest time in the women’s 100 meter hurdles prelims with a time of 13.28 to secure a top starting position in Saturday’s final. 

Amilia Wise-Sweat and Trey Kraimer each placed second in the women’s and men’s 800 meter prelims. 

Through the first two days, the Chants place seventh in the scoring on both the men and women’s side. 

FULL RESULTS

The Sun Belt Championship concludes tomorrow with the first event starting at noon

For complete coverage of CCU men’s and women’s track and field, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalTFXC (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @coastaltxfc (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com 

After two scoreless innings, Duke hit a two-out single and an error by FSU allowed the Blue Devils to get on the board first. 

FSU responded immediately as Krystina Hartley doubled down the right field line to immediately put a runner in scoring position for the Noles. Isa Torres laid down a perfect bunt down the third base line to put runners on the corners for the Noles. Jahni Kerr put a ball in play to the second baseman to allow Hartley to score. Kerr reached safely thanks to a poor throw. Katie Dack brought home Torres on a groundout to give the Noles the lead. 

After Julia Apsel got the start and went 2.2 innings and allowed just three hits, Jazzy Francik came in and shut down the Blue Devils in four innings of work.

Michaela Edenfield helped Francik out with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth to provide some insurance for FSU. Duke threatened and had the tying run on third with two outs in the top of the seventh, but Danley came in and got the final out to earn her fourth save of the year. Francik earned the win to improve to 10-2 this season. 

FSU will play the winner of Virginia Tech and Clemson tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN. 

For updates and exclusive content, follow the Seminoles on X (FSU_Softball), Instagram (fsusoftball) and Facebook (Florida State Seminoles Softball).

INDIANAPOLIS — The UCLA and USC women’s water polo teams will square off in the heart of the Midwest on Saturday for a chance to advance to another national title match.

No. 2 seed UCLA shook off a three-goal deficit and defeated Loyola Marymount, 11-8, on Friday afternoon at the IU Natatorium, while No. 3 seed USC took control early and crushed Harvard, 18-7.

Defending national champion UCLA (20-5) and USC (28-4) will square off at 11 a.m. PT, with the match available to stream live on NCAA.com.

Redshirt junior Emma Lineback paced the UCLA offense with a career-high-tying five goals, while junior Bia Mantellato added three goals and junior Anna Pearson had two. Sophomore goalie Lauren Steele had nine saves and three steals.

LMU (20-12) held a 3-2 lead at the end of the first period then scored the first two goals of the second for a 5-2 lead with 4:43 remaining in the first half. Mantellato then scored back-to-back goals to pull the Bruins within one, and Pearson scored a power-play goal with 46 seconds left for a 5-5 tie at halftime.

LMU scored first in the third period, but Lineback responded with three unanswered goals to give the Bruins their first lead. The Lions cut the Bruins’ lead to 9-8 with a penalty conversion with 10 seconds left in the third, but UCLA shut them out in the final period. Mantellato and Lineback scored the only two goals of the fourth to secure the win.

Nine players scored for USC against first-time NCAA qualifier Harvard (26-7). Ava Stryker and Emily Ausmus each scored three, while Tilly Kearns, Sinia Plotz, Ava Knepper, Alma Yaacobi and Maggie Johnson all had two goals apiece. Rachel Gazzaniga and Meghan McAninch also scored and goalie Anna Reed had six saves.

The Trojans used a three-goal surge and later beat the buzzer on a full-length score from Kearns to take a 5-2 lead after one period. The Trojans extended their lead to 10-3 by halftime, but Harvard was more competitive in the third period and trailed 13-6 entering the fourth.

Yaacobi scored back-to-back goals for USC to begin the fourth, then Johnson added a pair of savvy fake-and-fire goals for a 17-6 lead with two minutes left as the Trojans left no doubt and cruised to the victory.

Top-seeded Stanford crushed Wagner, 28-6, and will face fourth-seeded Hawaii, which edged Cal, 8-7, in Saturday’s other semifinal (9 a.m. PT).

The title match is Sunday at 9 a.m. PT and will be broadcast live on ESPNU.

MARICOPA, Ariz. – Santa Clara women’s golf freshman Proud Sriwongngam shot a career-best two under par in the opening round of the 2025 National Golf Invitational to finish the day tied for second and one shot off the lead. The Broncos are also in second as a team, finishing the day 5-over 293 at the par 72 Ak Chin Southern Dunes Golf Course. 

ROUND HIGHLIGHTS:

• Sriwongngam’s 70 is two strokes better than her previous season/career best round of 72. She had six birdies for the day with four coming on the back nine. 
• The freshman from Bangkok is in a three-way tie for second and just one stroke behind day one leader Angelica Holman from Eastern Michigan (69).
• Chloe Lam and Kelsey Kim are also inside the top 10, tying each other for 10th at 1-over 73. 
• Audrey Brust and Amy Im also tied each other at 5-over 77 for a share of 32nd. 
• The Broncos are just just two strokes behind Eastern Michigan (291) for the lead with 36 holes remaining. 

BRONCO INDIVIDUALS:

TEAM STANDINGS:

UP NEXT:

The second round of the NGI will be played tomorrow. 

MANHATTAN BEACH — The Mira Costa boys volleyball team had more than just a game and thoughts of a return to the CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship match on its minds Friday night.

The top-seeded Mustangs swept fourth-seeded Corona del Mar 25-13, 25-21, 25-20 to close out Pool A play unbeaten through three matches.

Mira Costa (32-2) did so in memory of Loyola senior tennis star Braun Levi, who was killed Sunday while on foot when he was struck by a suspected drunk driver.

Before the match, the entire Mira Costa team warmed up in T-shirts with the message “Live Like Braun” on the back that was placed underneath a depiction of the sun that had the Loyola logo at the center.

The reserves donned the shirts throughout the match.

“It was tough because in practice we were a little down, but I think it really motivated us,” Mustangs sophomore Mateo Fuerbringer said. “Braun was a really good kid and everyone’s friend. It really motivated us to come out and play hard and win.

“He always had a smile on his face wherever he was. No matter what the situation was, he always smiled.”

Mira Costa will face second-seeded Huntington Beach, the Pool B winner, in next Friday’s championship match scheduled for 7 p.m. at Cerritos College. Last year, the Mustangs were swept by Loyola in the CIF-SS Division 1 championship match.

Mira Costa is seeking its first CIF-SS title since 2021, and coach Greg Snyder is hoping recent history is on his team’s side as it starts “smelling the finish line.”

The Mustangs avenged a 2019 loss in the finals with a championship in 2021. No champion was crowned in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Oh, it definitely sticks,” Snyder said of last year’s result. “I think whoever loses the CIF finals has a clear advantage in the next one. They just get hungrier.”

Mira Costa got a team-high 10 kills from Karson Knapp to go with nine kills and three service aces from Fuerbringer. Middle blocker Alex Heins chipped in eight kills and three blocks.

The Mustangs overwhelmed the Sea Kings (25-6) from the outset, racing out to a 12-2 advantage in the opening set. The Mustangs had a balanced attack, scoring from both pins and the middle.

The Sea Kings did not settle into a rhythm until they erased an early deficit in the second set.

“‘We’ve been here before,’” CdM coach Katey Thompson said she told her team. “‘We’ve lost in this gym before, that shouldn’t shake us at all.’ So, in that second set we needed to come out and play CdM Sea Kings volleyball. We came out with a little bit more pressure on them, switched our lineup, moved things around, and it gave us a good start in that second set.”

CdM immediately bounced back from a 3-0 hole to start the set and took its first lead of the contest after Hunter Hanneman’s block capped a string of four consecutive points to pull ahead 4-3.

It was the Sea Kings’ third consecutive block of the spurt.

Mira Costa trailed by as many as four but regrouped thanks to a strong serve from Fuerbringer, who had two of his three aces in the set.

Trailing 13-10, Fuerbringer’s pair of serves were part of a 6-1 run to take back control.

CdM tied the set on a pair of occasions, including the last instance at 17-17, but never jumped back in front.

“I feel like we’re kind of finding our grove right now,” Snyder said. “A lot of times we play, like, two good sets and one not quite as sharp. So, every time I see three good sets I’m absolutely fired up and realize the guys are doing in the right direction. It couldn’t be at a better time.”

Snyder and Heins added that part of the major points of emphasis were to take away Sea Kings outside hitter and No. 1 option Ben Brown, who had just one kill in the opening set before finishing with nine and an ace.

In the third set, Mira Costa setter Andrew Chapin continued to spread the wealth.

Leading 14-11, Chapin faked out the CdM block as he sold a swing attempt well before passing off to middle blocker Wyatt Davis in the same motion for the easy kill.

“It makes life a lot easier,” Fuerbringer said of Chapin. “We get 1-on-1s all the time and we have a bunch of great hitters.”

The Sea Kings pulled within 18-17 on Brown’s ace but never made another run to extend the contest.

The match was moved up a day to accommodate the players attending the celebration of life Saturday for Levi.

Snyder said the school put in the request to move up the date with the CIF-SS. Thompson said CdM was notified of the approved change Tuesday night.

Heins said the Mustangs began to grieve together Monday.

“We all just went through a tough time. The best way to come back from that is just try to get things back to normal, just play,” Heins said. “We all love this game, (Levi) loved this game. Just kind of support his memory by playing this game.”