There have always been a multitude of scenarios for the Bruins
to covertly make their way into the NCAA Tournament.
This time around, the women’s water polo team has no
wiggle room.
Win the MPSF Tournament this weekend in Los Alamitos, and it
will punch its ticket to the NCAAs.
Lose, and UCLA will have failed to defend its NCAA championship
performance from a year ago.
“There isn’t one person that doesn’t
understand how important this is,” sophomore Lauren Heineck
said. “We’re definitely anxious and excited to get out
there.”
In all likelihood the No. 3 Bruins (20-4, 9-2 MPSF) will have to
bulldoze their way through rivals No. 6 Cal, No. 2 Stanford and No.
1 USC in order to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
The Trojans, who went undefeated in the regular season, have
essentially locked up the NCAA Tournament’s at-large bid.
Their performance in the MPSF Tournament will not affect whether
they receive a bid.
But it certainly matters to UCLA, who has failed to defeat
either the Trojans or the Cardinal in its four meetings with the
teams this season.
“I totally feel the hatred,” freshman Molly Cahill
said. “I hate USC and I hate Stanford. We haven’t been
able to beat them this season, but I hope this will be our
chance.”
The Bruins put themselves out of contention for a possible NCAA
bid a few weeks ago when they failed to even the score with
Stanford, losing a second game to the Cardinal.
But if this team resembles past squads coached by Adam
Krikorian, UCLA will find itself in Palo Alto for the NCAA
Tournament.
“We’ll have to take pride and set the record
straight,” Heineck said. “In the past years we’ve
beat them in clutch situations, and we’re looking to do the
same this time around.”
What may be slightly disheartening is that last year’s
Bruins were defeated by Stanford in the MPSF Tournament. It took an
NCAA at-large bid to put UCLA in the position to be crowned the
2003 champions.
With the bulk of this year’s squad composed of freshmen,
many have yet to experience the intensity that is the conference
tournament.
“I’m nervous and excited at the same time,”
Cahill said. “But I know we’re ready to go out there
and prove to everyone we can do it.”
The Bruins’ first-round matchup will be against the winner
of the California and Arizona State competition.
In the two regular-season matchups, the Bruins narrowly defeated
the Bears, 6-5 both times, and UCLA will not take the game
lightly.
“Cal hasn’t played to its potential this
year,” Krikorian said. “We had to come back to win each
game and that alone shows how tough it will be to pull out a
victory.”
What makes this time of the season so dramatic is that it just
takes one loss to be ousted from the tournament.
And come this weekend, all eyes still remain on undefeated USC,
as the Trojans have the possibility to stretch their perfect season
to 27-0.
And as always, Stanford is Stanford.
But then again, the Bruins are the reigning champs. That alone
cannot be forgotten.
“We don’t have very much to lose,” Krikorian
said. “No one is expecting us to do it.”