The Big Splash will be bigger than usual this year.

Top-ranked USC topped third-ranked Stanford, 13-12, in overtime Saturday in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's water polo contest that could help decide who makes the NCAA tournament and who is out.

The Cardinal (6-1, 19-2) heads into next Saturday's 2 p.m. game against visiting California tied for second place in the conference with its Bay Area rival.

The Bears have a win over Stanford this season, which gives them the edge in any tie-breaker scenario. The Cardinal would help itself with a win and securing the No. 2 seed in the MPSF tournament.

The Trojans all but guaranteed their spot in the NCAA tournament with the win and will carry the top seed into the conference tournament.

Stanford could win the conference tournament and earn the at-large bid into the postseason, or at least reach the championship game against USC and gain the bid. Either way, a win on Saturday is important.

Sacred Heart Prep grad Paul Rudolph and senior Janson Wigo each scored four goals as Stanford's eight-game winning streak came to an end. Drac Wigo added two goals and Jimmie Sandman made 12 saves.

Both teams scored five goals in a wild fourth period. The Cardinal, trailing 12-11 with less than 10 seconds remaining and in possession, drew a USC ejection and scored a dramatic equalizer on the 6-on-5 to send things to overtime.


Cross country
The top-ranked men's team won the West Regional Championship on Saturday morning at the Springfield Country Club near Eugene.

Stanford earned an automatic bid to the NCAA championships, which will be held in Terre Haute, Ind. on Monday, Nov. 23.

The No. 14 women's team finished third and will likely gain an at-large bid to the NCAA championships.

Chris Derrick, Elliott Heath and Justin Marpole-Bird finished 1-2-3 as the Stanford men scored 27 points without using one of its top runners in Jacob Riley. Second-place Portland finished with 84, while Oregon had 109 in third.

"We are very happy to make it through," Stanford coach Jason Dunn said. "It is a very good result with us holding out Jake. This prepares us well for nationals."

The title is the 11th NCAA West Regional championship for the Cardinal men and the first since 2004. Stanford will be looking for its first national title in six years.

Derrick remained undefeated on the season after completing the 10,000-meter course in 30:38.84, just ahead of Heath, who finished in 30:38.96. Derrick will enter the NCAA meet as the favorite for the individual title, but Heath has proven he could be in the mix as well.

"We wanted to run hard, but definitely not go too crazy right before the nationals," Derrick said. "It was a pretty slow race. It was muddy and sticky. In conditions like that I like to be up in front. I had a nice smooth acceleration at the end."

Marpole-Bird finished third with a time of 30:42.20, out-kicking Scott Smith of UC Santa Barbara and Tommy Betterbed of Portland.

"Everyone has improved this season, but nobody has improved more than Justin," said Dunn. "It is pretty impressive some of the individuals he beat considering it is his first 10k."

Cardinal runner Brendan Gregg placed 10th in 30:57.20.

The Stanford women finished with 94 points, trailing No. 1 Washington with 25 points and No. 5 Oregon with 66. The Cardinal welcomed the return of Kathy Kroeger and Kate Niehaus, but was without Alexandra Gits, a last minute scratch.

"It was nice to get a few girls back from injury," said Dunn. "We should be in a good position to get through to nationals."

Stephanie Marcy led the Stanford women with her ninth-place finish. The reliable Stanford redshirt sophomore finished with a time of 21:09.67 as she was the team's No.1 runner for the first time in her career.

Freshman Alex Dunne returned from a difficult Pac-10 race to finish 15th with a time of 21:21.08. Dunne was one of four Stanford women to earn All-Region honors.

Women's volleyball
Alix Klineman recorded 13 kills and Janet Okogbaa added nine kills on .429 hitting as Stanford downed visiting Oregon State, 25-18, 25-18, 25-19, in a Pac-10 match Saturday night.

Jessica Walker and Stephanie Browne combined for seven blocks as the seventh-ranked Cardinal (11-4, 18-7) moved into a first-place tie with Washington, which beat host UCLA and knocked the Bruins into third place, a half-game behind the co-leaders.

Stanford has three regular-season matches remaining, beginning with a trip to Arizona on Friday for a 6 p.m. (PT) first serve.

The conference race will likely remain unsettled until the final weekend.

Men's soccer
Stanford fell, 1-0, to visiting California in the regular season finale for both teams.

The 17th-ranked Cardinal (4-4-2, 10-5-2) will now await its postseason fate. Stanford is hoping to gain its first NCAA tournament bid in seven years.

The selection show is Monday on ESPNews at 2:30 p.m. (PT).

The Cardinal outshot Cal, 11-7, but could never found an answer to an early goal.


Wrestling
Stanford opened its season with three wins at the Northwestern Duals on Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill.

The Cardinal edged Purdue, 19-16, in its first dual before dismantling host Northwestern, 27-6. Stanford concluded the day with a 22-9 win over Northern Iowa.

Three Cardinal wrestlers went undefeated. Redshirt juniors Justin Paulsen and Zack Giesen and redshirt sophomore Nick Amuchastegui all recorded 3-0 records.

— PA Weekly Online Sports