Gucci. Chanel. Dior. Fendi. Von Zippers. Whatever’s en
vogue, the UCLA women’s water polo players are sporting it on
their faces. White, black, pink, big frames, green lenses and thick
bands are just some of the features of the sunglasses that Bruins
wear to games. As important as it is to play well, being trendy has
a part in the scene too. “I’d like to think we’re
a fashion-consciousness team, and sunglasses are an accessory we
pride ourselves in,” junior Kelly Rulon said. But it’s
more than just a fashion accessory. It’s a necessity.
“Our eyes are sensitive afterward,” said Rulon, who has
Chanel sunglasses. “There’s so much chlorine in our
eyes, they get red and sore, so when the sun hits them directly, we
have to sport them.” Other people on the water polo scene
have their own idiosyncrasies as well. Look no further than the
head coaches. Stanford coach John Tanner is never seen without his
straw hat. USC coach Jovan Vavic never leaves home without his red
Nike shoes. And of course, UCLA coach Adam Krikorian never removes
his simple, black shades during a game. But since the team members
took jabs at Krikorian for his old shades, which they used to call
the “terminator sunglasses,” Krikorian has been sighted
with a new pair – Electrics. Same goes for assistant coach Nicolle
Payne, who now has Chanel sunglasses thanks to an end-of-the-year
gift from the team last season. “We want hip coaches,”
Rulon said. “Adam made an improvement. Before, he would wear
these Adidas ones and we’d make fun of him.” As for the
player on the team who may very well have more sunglasses than
Paris Hilton, that honor would have to go to Kristina Kunkel.
“She has, I don’t know 20 to 30 (pairs),” said
junior Molly Cahill, who has an affection for Von Zippers.
“She always has the newest and latest.”
KEEPIN’ IT LOOSE While the action was
taking place in the pool during the conference tournament this past
weekend, fans couldn’t help but look at other teams that were
warming up. To get loose, the Cal women’s water polo team
spars with one another with bright red gloves. USC is known for
getting down to music such as Sean Paul’s hit single
“Temperature.” The Bruins get in a circle and play
Hacky Sack. They’ll do anything just to get their attention
away from the game at hand. “T-Bone (Thalia Munro) and
Natalie (Golda) brought playing Hacky Sack back after coming from
the Olympics,” Rulon said. “It calms you down, everyone
gets together and it helps you get focused.” While the
objective is to get all the players to touch the Hacky Sack at
least once, they admit one thing: “We’re not very good
at it,” Cahill said.
NOT IN MY CAGE It’s rare to talk about an
individual’s impact on the game, but UCLA goalie Emily Feher
should be given praise for her job at the cage. The 5-foot-8-inch
junior has the second-best goal-against average in the Mountain
Pacific Sports Federation conference at 3.96. More importantly,
Feher has stopped three of six penalty shots from four meters since
the Stanford game at home on April 15. None were more important
than Feher’s swat of Trojan Brittany Hayes’ shot in the
first period that would’ve given USC a sizeable 4-1 lead in
the third-place game of the conference tournament. So how does
Feher do it? It’s all about feel. “I feel my eyes are
closed half the time. You just have to have confidence,”
Feher said. “It’s a lot of pressure for a shooter and
they have the expectations to make it because goalies aren’t
expected to block it. Anything I as a goalie can do to stop
momentum, it’s huge. “I’m not very tall so I have
to almost take an educated guess of where to go and go with my
gut,” she said.
GEMS FROM GOLDA: Before the start of the
postseason, graduated senior and All-American Natalie Golda spoke
candidly about what she thinks about this year’s Bruin team
and what they need to do to repeat as national champions. “I
see them in training and it’s lights out. Everyone’s
shooting well, playing great team defense and a lot of
speed,” Golda said, “but sometimes in a game, they
might second-guess themselves a little bit. I just think
they’re not as confident as they should be. They should be
overpouring with confidence. “They aren’t taking things
personally. They need to carry (confidence) over to each game. I
think they’re just still feeling that pressure from last
season.”