Teams were distraught, embarrassed and at times looked downright
foolish. Some cowered. Some just gave up. Others tried putting up a
fight but succumbed down the stretch to a team the women’s
water polo community called the best ever assembled. Period.
A perfect 33-0 season speaks volumes. But for the Bruins, who
are reigning national champions, last season was so much more than
perfection. It was dominance.
Never once has a team had that much success with that much ease.
They out-powered and out-paced their opponents, outscoring them
394-134. Going into the conference tournament, UCLA never found
itself down at the end of a quarter.
“Statistically there’s no way to beat last
season,” said UCLA coach Adam Krikorian, who’s in his
eighth season and has won four national titles.
“There won’t ever be a season like that. Maybe from
a personal, team achievement standpoint you can always get better.
But there will never be anyone that can match the style of how we
beat teams.”
Before the season even began last year, trumpets, fanfare and
all manner of hoopla surrounded UCLA. It deserved it with all its
national team experience and three returning Olympians, Natalie
Golda, Thalia Munro and Kelly Rulon. The Bruins were expected to
win and in convincing fashion. They were expected to go undefeated.
They were practically given the championship.
But this season it’s been different. The sound of the
trumpet is merely a squeak. The fanfare has diminished. And the
hoopla only murmurs.
“I heard we’re going to win, but I haven’t
heard we’re going to go undefeated,” Rulon said.
“When you hear all that stuff you become complacent. We
don’t want to be complacent and conceited. It’s a new
season.”
All but two players will be returning from last season. Although
one of the players absent is captain and Olympian Natalie Golda,
UCLA is once again seeded as the top-ranked team in the nation. But
when asked whether this team is the same team that blew opponents
out of the water last season, Krikorian and players alike were
quick to quell the suggestion.
“No, it’s not the same team,” Rulon said.
“We’re missing Natalie (Golda) and Lauren Heineck (who
suffered a season and career-ending concussion). That’s two
huge players. It may not seem like a lot but we’re losing
leadership and two great defenders.”
As the Bruins practice for their first real test this weekend at
the Stanford Invitational, players continue to reiterate how this
season is going to be different from last year. It’s not
going to be easy.
Senior driver Katherine Belden made this apparent last
Sunday.
After crushing Cal State Northridge and Cal State Bakersfield by
a combined score of 42-6 on Friday, UCLA faced a formidable No. 10
UC Santa Barbara team Sunday. That’s where Belden stepped in.
As the team huddled around before jumping into the water, Belden
spouted out.
“For those of you that don’t know, not every game is
going to be a blowout, not every game is going to be easy,
they’re going to give us a fight so be ready for it,”
said Munro, who paraphrased Belden’s speech.
“It’s not always just going to come easy. We’re
going to have to come out every single game.”
That’s what it’s going to take coming off a season
like last year, especially with the nation’s best gunning to
knock off the Bruins. If anything, this season’s race to the
title will be one of the most hotly contested in years with the
top-tier teams returning most of their players and landing superb
recruiting classes.
USC, with three seniors headlined by Moriah van Norman, is
expected to finish second behind the Bruins. Krikorian was quick to
point out the Trojans will have future Olympians on their
roster.
Despite the loss of the talented duo of Hannah and Kelty Luber,
Stanford will welcome back a talented team led by senior Laurel
Champion. The Cardinal has finished in the top three in eight
consecutive seasons. Stanford played UCLA the closest last season,
losing two one-goal games, the most heartbreaking one in the
championship game.
Hawai’i, last year’s sleeper team, has a roster
top-heavy with international players with national team experience.
The Rainbow Wahine gave the Bruins fits with their physical style
of play.
To say the least, UCLA won’t walk all over teams this
season.
“There will be a hell of a lot of quarters where
we’re going to be down and have to fight our way back,”
Krikorian said. “Last year we made it look easy. It’s
not going to be (this season).”
And one thing will be for certain. That target on the
Bruins’ backs will continue to grow as they continue to
extend their 36-game winning streak.
“It’s something you expect after the season we
had,” junior goalie Emily Feher said. “I think we set
our own standards.”
And those standards are high. While some may think players are
still on a high, the Bruins aren’t. Last season was last
season and none of it counts.
Munro, who will be a significant anchor for this year’s
team as a senior, isn’t reminiscing about the future.
“No. No. No. That’s in the past, that was cool, but
that has no effect on how I feel,” Munro said. “We
can’t focus on the end result. That’s not how it works.
I have to make sure we take care of business. The championship
ring, that all comes after the hard work. It doesn’t come
after thinking.
“We know what it takes and we want to be back.”