NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Junior Kelly
Heuchan wards off a defender in a game last week.
WOMEN’S WATERPOLO vs. UCLA vs.
Cal Saturday 12 p.m. Berkeley, CA vs. UCLA vs.
Pacific Sunday 12 p.m. Stockton, CA
By Emily Whichard
Daily Bruin Contributor
UCLA women’s water polo will hit the road once again this
weekend as they head north for their second weekend of Mountain
Pacific Sports Federation Conference play.
The Bruins (6-2, 1-0 MPSF) will begin on Saturday against No. 4
California (5-4). UCLA has already defeated the Golden Bears twice
this season in tournament play and currently owns an 18-5 overall
series advantage over the Bears.
Head Coach Adam Krikorian refuses to expect an easy win.
“There is so much tradition in Cal waterpolo,” he
said. “You get a feeling when you walk on that pool deck.
They’ll be especially hard to beat at home.”
The Bruins are aware that every conference matchup will affect
their bid for the national championship. Due to two early losses to
No. 1 Stanford in tournament play, it is important for the Bruins
to maintain a flawless conference record.
“It’s really important that we show up for every
game ready to play,” sophomore two-meter defender Robin
Beauregard said.
Krikorian wants the team to focus on consistency and heart.
“We need to focus on finding consistency and hunger to win
in each and every minute of the game,” he said.
On Sunday, the Bruins travel to Stockton to face the No. 15
Pacific Tigers (2-7). UCLA currently has a perfect 8-0 record
against the Tigers. At last weekend’s UCSB tournament,
Pacific finished 14th with a 1-4 record, losing to UC San Diego in
the 13th place match.
The Bruins plan to take the weekend one game at a time.
“We are putting all of our concentration into Cal right
now,” Krikorian said.
UCLA will return to host three conference games from March 9-11.
The Bruins face No. 3 USC for the first time this season on March
9. They will round out the weekend with games against No. 6 Hawaii
on the 10th, and No. 7 Long Beach on the 11th.