After a weekend trip to the Midwest and a short drive down the 405 Freeway, the Bruins are finally coming home.
The No. 1 UCLA women’s water polo team (5-0) hosts its first home game of the season against No. 10 Hartwick College (0-2) at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center today at 3 p.m.. Hartwick College is located in Oneonta, N.Y.
Despite losses to No. 9 UC Irvine and No. 2 USC this weekend, Hartwick remains a historically competitive team. The Hartwick Hawks went 32-10 last season and advanced to their third NCAA Tournament in the last four years. By earning the No. 10 preseason national rank, they are now situated at the highest position in the history of their program, and are the only East Coast team to be featured in the top-10 preseason rankings.
“We’re looking forward to (the Hartwick) game,” coach Adam Krikorian said. “They’ve represented their conference at (the NCAA Tournament) the past three years and, from what I’ve heard, they are the preseason favorite to make it to the NCAAs again this year. That’s a team that conceivably we could end up seeing again at the NCAA, which adds a lot to the game.”
Junior attacker Katie Rulon agreed with her coach, recognizing the high level of competition that the Hawks could present them with.
“It should be good to play some better competition,” Rulon said. “They’re a good team, and it’s always good to see your future competition, especially because we only play them once before the NCAAs.”
Rulon has had a torrid start to the season so far. With her two goals in the Bruins’ 13-6 win over Loyola Marymount on Saturday, Rulon has tallied 14 goals in five games, the most on the team. Senior Jillian Kraus is second with 11 goals.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, today’s game leaves little time for the team to recuperate from Saturday’s game and to prepare for the Hawks. Nevertheless, the players don’t feel threatened by the midweek game.
“It’s good to play in the middle of the week; it breaks up practice a little bit,” Rulon said.
Also at stake this Tuesday is the challenge of upholding the Bruins’ undefeated record at home. The Bruins have won 28 consecutive games at home, dating back to the 2003-2004 season.
The team also has to overcome the emotions that come with playing in front of their home crowd for the first time this season.
“I think we’re excited to play at home,” Krikorian said. “It’s always fun playing at home. It will be a little strange playing on a weekday, but we’re looking forward to it.”
Those who are especially excited to play in their first home game of the season are the freshmen.
“I am really excited to play my first game at home, especially since it’s the day before my birthday,” attacker Priscilla Orozco said. “My family is going to come out.”