Riding high off of an epic contest last Sunday, the UCLA women’s water polo team will head to Hawai’i for its second Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest of the season.
In the finale of last weekend’s UC Irvine Invitational and after losing to Stanford earlier in the day, the No. 3 Bruins faced off with No. 4 California in the third meeting of the season between the two teams.
It’s safe to say that the Bruins and Bears are a fairly even match. The teams had each won a one-goal contest in the previous two matchups, and this game went to an unprecedented eight overtimes ““ the final six of which were sudden death ““ before UCLA gained a goal from sophomore KK Clark to clinch the victory.
The Bruins (12-4) will now face a Rainbow Wahine team that they have already defeated once, 9-8, at the Stanford Invitational on Feb. 6. No. 5 Hawai’i (8-6, 0-2) suffered through a four-game losing streak earlier this season before regaining some semblance of its footing at the UC Irvine Invitational, winning three of four games. A season ago, the two teams faced off in Honolulu in the first round of the MPSF Tournament, with the Bruins coming out victorious, 8-7. The game will start at 9 p.m. Pacific time.
Compiled by Ryan Eshoff, Bruin Sports senior staff