After competing in the nation’s top conference all season, including facing No. 1 USC and No. 2 Stanford repeatedly, the UCLA women’s water polo team knows what to expect going into this weekend’s NCAA tournament.
This year’s competition, which is taking place at Harvard’s Blodgett Pool, is the ninth-consecutive NCAA championship the Bruins have competed in. This year, they are entering the tournament as a third seed.
Starting in 2005, the team won five consecutive NCAA championships and has made it to the semifinals the past two years, losing to Cal and USC, respectively.
But this season, UCLA has been unable to overcome Stanford, losing by as many as seven goals. If both teams win their respective games today, the Bruins will have a final chance to prove their worth and attempt to defeat the Cardinal on Saturday.
UCLA’s first matchup in the tournament is more of a wild card, as it will be facing No. 6 Princeton, a team the Bruins have not played in eight years.
But regardless of who it ends up facing, the team is well-equipped to make an impact at the NCAA championship this weekend, as many of the players are among the top-ranked, statistically, in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
Freshman attacker Rachel Fattal has had a successful introduction, averaging 1.94 goals per game with a total of 62 goals all season. Besides being the ninth-leading scorer in the MPSF, she was recently named Newcomer of the Year in the conference and achieved second team All-MPSF honors.
Another Bruin named to the All-MPSF second team is redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Sami Hill. Top-level competition is nothing new for Hill, who trained with the USA women’s national team last year. Back in Westwood this season, Hill became No. 2 in the MPSF in saves, averaging 10.71 per game.
Sophomore attacker Emily Donohoe, a key offensive element for UCLA, was the team’s final player to be named to the All-MPSF second team, rounding out a squad that made its mark among the nation’s best.
Depending on the outcome of today’s games, UCLA will face either Stanford or Iona on Saturday.
Compiled by Marion Patricio, Bruin Sports reporter.