Courtesy: USC Athletics
LOS ANGELES — Three USC women’s water polo players have earned another round of All-America honors with one newcomer to the list as the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches announced the list of 2025 women’s All-Americans today. Senior Tilly Kearns has her third First Team All-America award in-hand, joined by first-time All-American Emily Ausmus on the First Team. Sophomores Rachel Gazzaniga and Ava Stryker have their second All-America selections in two seasons of work, with Gazzaniga on the Third Team and Stryker with Honorable Mention.
A 2024 Olympian with Team USA, Emily Ausmus was named MPSF Newcomer of the Year and a member of the All-MPSF First Team in her first season at USC. The freshman attacker scored in all 34 games for USC to set a school single-season record with 114 goals. In addition to becoming the fastest Trojan to reach 100 goals, Ausmus also handed out 55 assists and stole the ball 46 times in 2025. En route to the NCAA championship game, she scored three goals with two assists and two steals in the national quarterfinal against Harvard. In addition to earned ACWPC All-America First Team honors in her freshman season, Ausmus is a finalist for the Peter J. Cutino Award.
A 2024 Olympic silver medalist with Australia, Tilly Kearns became a three-time All-MPSF First Team honoree this season for USC. The senior center scored 100 goals and finished her time as a Trojan ranked No. 3 all-time in scoring with 262 career goals. In addition to the scoring, Kearns earned 62 exclusions and notched 48 steals on the year. She earned NCAA All-Tournament First Team honors and was instrumental in propelling USC to the NCAA championship game by scoring five goals and earning six exclusions in the Trojans’ national semifinal win over UCLA. This is Kearns’ third First Team All-America selection (2022, 2023, 2025), going along with her recently secured status as a three-time Cutino Award finalist.
Sophomore Rachel Gazzaniga has her second set of ACWPC All-America honors with her spot on the Third Team for 2025. Also an All-MPSF Second Team selection this season, Gazzaniga earned a spot on the NCAA All-Tournament First Team. She scored 46 goals for the high-powered Trojans, delivering at least one goal in 26 games with 13 multiple-goal outings. That included a career-high four-goal outburst in a win over UCLA earlier this season. She also had a hat trick later to beat the Bruins in USC’s NCAA semifinal victory and now boasts 95 career goals in two seasons of work at Troy. Also in 2025, she nabbed 34 steals and had 21 assists.
Ava Stryker scored her 100th career goal during her sophomore campaign while ending up with a total of 72 goals scored for USC in 2025. USC’s third leading scorer, she also was third in assists (48) and steals (41). She scored at least one goal in 32 of USC’s 34 games, with 23 multiple-goal efforts. Named to the NCAA All-Tournament Second Team, Stryker scored six goals in NCAA action to help drive her career scoring count to 121 goals in her two seasons as a Trojan.
