NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Junior Christel Smith
aims to get the ball past a Trojan opponent. UCLA plays in the MPSF
tournament this weekend at USC.
By Colin Yuhl
Daily Bruin Contributor
Only in the MPSF conference tournament can the top ranked team
in the nation be seeded third. But that’s the way it goes for
the UCLA women’s water polo team.
Despite finishing the regular season as No. 1, the Bruins were
seeded behind Stanford and USC in the conference tournament,
earning them a first-round matchup with San Jose State.
There was a tie for first place in the conference, with UCLA,
USC and Stanford all even with a 10-1 conference record. It was a
veritable “paper beats scissors beats rock” with these
teams as UCLA beat USC, USC beat Stanford, and Stanford beat UCLA.
The difference came down to goal differential, and in that category
UCLA came up just a little bit short.
“It just goes to show how tough our conference is,”
junior defender Robin Beauregard said. “The top three teams
are so close that the rankings don’t really matter. Any of us
could be ranked No. 1.”
Indeed, UCLA couldn’t care less about their seed.
They’ve beaten every team in the conference with the notable
exception of Stanford and the Bruins are playing at the top of
their game right now.
Still, this team can ill afford to feel secure about their
position. If the Bruins don’t win the tournament outright,
they place themselves in jeopardy of being left out of the NCAA
Tournament, and a right to defend their national championship.
In the NCAA Tournament, only four teams are invited to play.
Since the MPSF is by far the strongest conference in the nation,
two teams are perennially selected. One is the winner of the
conference tournament, the other being the best at-large team.
Essentially, if a team other than Stanford or UCLA wins the
tournament, Stanford will be selected for the at-large bid, given
their 3-0 record against the Bruins. That would leave UCLA on the
outside looking in, and effectively end their two-year run as
national champions.
Still, Bruin head coach Adam Krikorian feels good about their
chances of success.
“I think we’ve yet to see the best this team has to
offer, and I think that it will come out this weekend,” he
said.
The almost inevitable second round game against USC might make
or break the Bruins’ NCAA hopes. The game is sure to be
physical, and the officiating may be a key factor in deciding the
type of match this will be.
“They play differently than any other team,” senior
center Kelly Heuchan said. “Their shooters are European, very
strong, and very physical. We can’t expect any calls from the
officials.”
Regardless of how the officials call the game, the Bruins feel
that they ultimately control the outcome.
“We want to come out and play the game of the year, and
have everything click for us,” Beauregard said.
“¢bull; “¢bull; “¢bull;
Notes: Once again, UCLA will be battling injuries at a key time
of the year. Lopez has been having problems with her back and
groin, Beauregard is dealing with bad tendinitis in her left elbow
and goalie Jamie Hipp has a strained hip.
This team will not use injuries as an excuse.
“I don’t think about it too much. Once the nets go
up you don’t feel any pain,” Lopez said.