Bruins keep flawless record
Undefeated w. water polo still sees room for improvement
By Mark J. Dittmer
Daily Bruin Contributor
The UCLA women’s water polo team tallied up two more victories
this weekend, improving its record to 6-0 and holding on to the No.
1-ranking in the nation.
It seems nothing can stop the Bruins as they continue to roll
along smoothly. But they still are not anywhere near where they
would like to be.
"We just think that we could play a lot better than we played
here today," said freshman Katie Tenenbaum, who scored five goals
on the weekend.
"Last weekend we played as a team; today, we played as
individuals," agreed sophomore Stephanie Natcher, who had two key
goals in the fourth quarter on Saturday.
All of this self-criticism came after the Bruins’ 8-4 victory
over UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. The day before, they’d beaten
USC more soundly, by the score of 18-8.
Amidst the general feeling that things should have been better,
one needed to be reminded that the Bruins had won.
"Yeah, I’m always happy with a win," said UCLA head coach Guy
Baker, who nevertheless saw room for improvement. "This shows me
that we’ve got a long way to go. We made a lot of mental errors,
and we had a poor team effort today."
The win over the Gauchos (2-3) was closer than the score
indicated. After one period, the teams were tied at 0-0. And up
until the last 10 seconds of the second quarter, the Bruin lead was
only 2-1.
UCLA might not have had a lead at all if not for the eight saves
goalie Nicholle Payne made in the first half, most of them
spectacular.
"Nicholle Payne was huge," UCSB head coach Joe O’Brien said.
"This was our best offensive production of the year. We got a lot
of shots, but (Payne) is very smart, and she knows how to be in the
right place at the right time."
Besides Payne, who made 24 saves while allowing just seven goals
over the weekend, the Bruins can also thank Jennifer McFerrin, who
scored a very key goal with 9 seconds left in the second quarter,
giving the Bruins a 3-1 lead. McFerrin scored both of her goals in
the first half.
"Our heads just weren’t in it today," said UCLA’s Amanda Gall,
who scored a fourth-quarter penalty shot. She did, however, approve
of the 18-8 win the day before. "Yesterday we did a great job. We
went out, we knew what we had to do, everybody got to play, it was
fun."
It certainly was. Nine Bruins scored goals against the Trojans
(0-5), and six of them scored twice. Tenenbaum scored four times,
and Gall netted three goals. It was an impressive show of balance
and depth, despite the absence of three starters this weekend
because of Junior National Team try-outs.
PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin
Bruin goalie Nicholle Payne had 24 saves and gave up just seven
goals in UCLA’s victories over USCB and USC last weekend.
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