By Emily Whichard
Daily Bruin Contributor
This season will be a first for the women’s water polo
team in many ways.
This is the first year water polo has become NCAA sport for
women. It’s the first year Head Coach Adam Krikorian is at
the helm of both the men’s and women’s programs by
himself. It’s the first year the team boasts Olympians on its
roster.
With so many positive additions this season, the Bruins’
prospects for success are looking good.
“So many changes and growths are happening,” said
junior Eleanor Murphy. “It’s an exciting time to be in
the sport.”
UCLA enters the season with two national titles in the last
three years and a 30-5 overall record last year. This season the
Bruins (6-2, 2-0 MPSF) are holding on to their No. 2 national
ranking, dropping their only losses to No. 1 Stanford.
Among the talented Bruin players are sophomore Robin Beauregard
and senior Coralie Simmons. Both players redshirted the last two
seasons to play for the U.S. National team. Simmons and Beauregard
bring a higher level of competition to UCLA, as well as a pair of
Olympic silver medals.
The Bruins aren’t the only ones who boast returning
Olympians and a strong squad. Each of the other top four teams
““ No. 1 Stanford, No. 3 USC and No. 4 California ““
possess an Olympian in their lineup.
“Each year there have been more good teams in the game. We
have to really show up for every game and play our best now,”
Beauregard said.
UCLA’s starting lineup this season includes sophomore
Jaime Hipp defending the goal, with junior Kelly Hall coming off
the bench to support. Hipp earned third-team All-American honors
last season with 198 saves and a 4.52 goals-against average.
On the offensive side, the two-meter starting position will be
held by junior Kelly Heuchan. Sophomore Ashley Stachowski and
freshman Natalie Golda will come off the bench for Heuchan. Golda
leads the team this season in scoring, with 15 goals.
Key drivers for the offensive starting lineup are junior Jenny
Lamb, sophomore Jessica Lopez, senior Kristin Guerin, Simmons, and
Beauregard. Beauregard is the second-highest scorer for the season
with 11 goals. Sophomore Maureen Flanagan and freshman Thalia Munro
back up these players.
On the defensive end, the key two-meter players are Beauregard
and Lamb. Heuchan will start as the secondary two-meter defender.
The remainder of the defensive starting lineup consists of Simmons,
Guerin and Lopez.
Since 2001 marks the inaugural season for women’s water
polo as an NCAA sport, the stakes have been raised to a new level
for the Bruins.
Only two teams from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
Conference will qualify for the tournament. Since the MPSF houses
eight of the top 10 programs in the nation, the campaign for the
first NCAA title will be particularly challenging.
“We used to beat the other top teams 11-1. That’s
not happening anymore,” Krikorian said. “Right now
there is a lot more parity between the top teams than there has
ever been before.”
The other teams in the top four will offer the Bruins a
challenge. UCLA has defeated California in two match-ups, USC has
yet to meet the Bruins this season, while No. 1 Stanford has
claimed UCLA’s only losses in the finals of two tournaments
this month.
Krikorian has plans for improvement within the Bruin squad.
“We need to work on finding consistency and a hunger to
win every game and every play,” he said. “That’s
what makes Stanford so tough right now. They play at a high level
each and every minute of the game.”
The Bruins will have the chance to work on that consistency as
they head into their second weekend of conference play. They will
face California for the third time on Saturday and Pacific on
Sunday.
WOMEN’S WATER POLO STARTERS SOURCE: UCLA Sports
Information Original by CONNIE WU/Daily Bruin Web Adaptation by
JUSTIN HONG and TIM MIU