CROSSTOWN FOES UCLA, USC SOAK IN THIS RIVALRY WOMEN'S WATER POLO TEAMS ARE PERENNIAL TITLE CONTENDERS.

Byline: MATTHEW KREDELL Staff Writer

To find the best of the crosstown rivalries between USC and UCLA, just add water.

It isn't football or basketball, it's not just about pride or bragging rights. In water polo, the Trojans and Bruins regularly battle for national championships.

It's no different this season, as the schools are ranked first and third in the country entering the NCAA Tournament in women's water polo Friday at UC Davis.

``I don't know if that's the case in any other sport,'' UCLA coach Adam Krikorian said. ``Combine that with the physical nature of the sport and it's truly one of the most intense rivalries I've ever come across.''

The teams have won the national title nine of the past 10 years, including seven by the Bruins.

UCLA is the defending champion, though it's the Trojans who come into the tournament as the No. 1 seed. UCLA is ranked No. 3, though the Bruins beat USC last week in the conference tournament for the first time in three tries this season.

If the teams meet again, it will be in Sunday's final. To get there, each school likely will have to get past an opponent it lost to earlier in the season. In the semifinals, USC could face Hawaii, the team that snapped its 25-game winning streak.

UCLA could face No. 2 Stanford in the semifinals. USC opens against Claremont-Mudd- Scripps, and UCLA against Hartwick.

USC and UCLA players have more of a familiarity with each other than in other sports. During the summer, many of them will play on the U.S. National team.

``It's an interesting dynamic,'' UCLA's Emily Feher said. ``During the normal school season, we're enemies. Then we come together and play on the same team. It adds something different to the rivalry.''

Even the coaches see each other more often than most. Krikorian and USC coach Yovan Vavic lead the men's teams as well. In the fall, the USC men won the national title. The previous two times that has happened -- in 1998 and 2003 -- the women also won the title in the same calendar year.

Feher was one of six players on USC and UCLA who traveled to Montreal with the national team last summer and took the silver medal at the world championships.

It's tough to imagine rival football players this friendly during the offseason.

``It's competitive, but there's no hard feelings with the players,'' said USC's Moriah Van Norman, another national team member. ``Playing with them at the highest possible level, I think we have a greater respect for them.''

That's not to say things won't get nasty if the teams meet in the final.

Water polo is a constant struggle for position, which almost turns to wrestling or fighting in the water.

In a game last week for third place in the conference, the intensity was clear. USC held onto the top seed despite the loss.

``If you're a Bruin, you always want to beat the Trojans, and vice versa,'' Vavic said. ``It does hurt more to lose to the Bruins if you're a true Trojan, there's no way around it. The emotions run high.''

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Lauren Wenger and the rest of her USC teammates try to live up to their No. 1 seeding in water polo.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

(2) Emily Feher and the Bruins hope to repeat as NCAA champions in women's water polo. Feher was on the U.S. silver-medal team at the world championships last summer.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

Box:

NCAA WATER POLO TOURNAMENT