Water polo steps on Long Beach on way to tournament

Monday, November 11, 1996

By Greg Calvert

Daily Bruin Contributor

Poolside at Sunset Canyon Recreation Center on Saturday
afternoon was hot. The sun was shining, but its reflection proved
to be little distraction as the Bruins rolled over No. 10 Long
Beach State 13-7.

Third-ranked UCLA improved its conference record to 5-1 (19-2
overall). The Beach remained winless in the Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation (0-7), and fell to 7-13 overall.

Inspired play by 49er senior Jeff Hall kept Long Beach State
motivated, but a win seemed out of reach after the Bruins held his
team scoreless in the second period.

Although the defeat leaves the Long Beach team one loss away
from going winless in conference play, the 49ers were optimistic
following Saturday’s contest.

"We’re a young team ­ the most experience we have is one
year, but we’re improving," senior Jeff Hall said.

But for UCLA, the time is now, as they hope to gain entry to the
MPSF tournament at the end of the month, in which the winner (along
with the MPSF team boasting the best overall record) will be
invited to La Jolla for the NCAA four-team championship
tournament.

The Bruins will host Air Force on Monday (3 p.m. at Sunset)
before squaring off against top-ranked USC.

"These two games (LBSU and Air Force) are building blocks for
the ‘SC game," sophomore Eric Helfer said.

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