UNIVERSITY BEAT: WET, WILD WARFARE EXPECTED.

Byline: Rizza Yap Daily News Staff Writer

UCLA's Brett Stern is convinced that his water polo team's matchup against USC on Friday will be the best one yet.

Because they're cross-town rivals.

Because Friday marks the first round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament, and the winner knocks the loser out of postseason play.

Because USC is the fourth-seeded team, while UCLA is fifth, which means the most evenly matched showdown in the tourney.

``There's no better way to get started than with a game like that,'' Stern, a senior defender, said.

The last time both Los Angeles schools battled for a title was last year's NCAA championship. UCLA won 8-7 - after losing three straight to USC in the regular season - to claim its second consecutive national title. This year the Bruins (13-10, 4-4) are looking to tread a similar path after losing their last three meetings against the Trojans (17-6, 5-3).

The teams' latest matchup took place at USC two hours before the UCLA-USC football game last Saturday. UCLA saw an 8-7 lead slip away and lost 11-10. The previous game was decided by two points in overtime, and the first was a 12-7 USC win at UCLA.

Win or lose: The eight-team MPSF championships is likely to be the most intense tournament of the season, but Pepperdine men's water polo coach Terry Schroeder isn't stressed out.

With a perfect conference record, the Waves (22-1, 8-0) are likely to secure a berth in the playoffs whether or not they win the MPSF title.

Sweeping: The UCLA women's soccer team received the Pacific-10 Conference's top three honors. Joy Fawcett was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year, senior Traci Arkenberg - who now has set 16 school records - is Player of the Year, and midfielder Sommer Hammoud is Freshman of the Year.

Arkenberg, Thousand Oaks' Shannon Thomas, and Rhi Tanaka were first-team All-Pac-10 selections. Hammoud and Beth Thompson were named to the second team.

The Bruins travel to South Bend, Ind., on Saturday for their first-ever meeting with No. 2 seed Notre Dame (22-0-1). The winner advances to the final four.

More accolades: The UCLA men's soccer team also boasts conference honorees with six players named to the MPSF Pacific Division All-Federation team. The list includes leading scorer Seth George, Nick Theslof, Pete Vagenas, Carlos Bocanegra, Kevin Coye and Josh Keller.

Fifth-seeded UCLA (18-2) hosts Washington (15-2-2) at Spaulding Field for an NCAA second-round matchup on Sunday.

Waiting game: The USC, UCLA and Pepperdine women's volleyball teams will be glued to the tube on Sunday, when the NCAA announces this year's tournament bracket. The selection show airs at 3:30 p.m. on select Fox Sports Net affiliates.

USC (21-5), which advanced to the tourney the last six years, completed the 1997 season tied for second place in the Pac-10, its highest conference finish ever. Outside hitter Antoinette Polk was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year with 311 kills, third best on the team. Coach Lisa Love shared Coach of the Year honors with Stanford's Don Shaw.

Jennifer Kessy and Jasmina Marinkovic also were named to the All-Pac-10 team, along with UCLA's Kara Milling.

Pepperdine (23-3, 12-2) features All-West Coast Conference first-team picks in seniors Becci Roehl and Nicole Sanderson. (Karen Benkovsky, Jamie Hill and Anna Witkowski were second-team selections.)