Women’s water polo
Jack Perez, Daily Bruin staff
For the final time until conference championships, the Bruins will head to a weekend tournament once again.
No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo (14-1) will play at Irvine in this weekend’s Barbara Kalbus Invitational. The Bruins’ first matchup is against the No. 17 Long Beach State 49ers (2-6).
The two other teams in UCLA’s side of the bracket include No. 6 Michigan (6-5) and No. 12 Loyola Marymount (4-5). The Bruins have faced both the Wolverines and the Lions once this season, winning by two and one goals, respectively.
UCLA has allowed 10 goals in each of its past two games. Coach Adam Wright said his team’s lapses in focus during the games are making it hard to reach its full potential.
“We start to put ourselves in a really tough position,” Wright said. “One of our biggest issues is awareness. People are going to make mistakes, and in a team game you’re there to help each other. We haven’t really done a good job of knowing what’s going on around us.”
UCLA may potentially face rivals No. 1 USC (13-0), No. 2 Stanford (7-0) and No. 4 California (7-1) in the semifinals of the tournament. The Bruins fell to the Trojans 10-3 on Feb. 10.
In last year’s invitational, the Bruins squared off with the Cardinal in the semifinals, falling 10-3. They bounced back against the Golden Bears in the third-place game with a 7-5 victory.
Although his team could be seeing its top four rivals this weekend, Wright said his team will need to hone in on growing and continuing to improve rather than worrying about who it might play.
“The only thing we’re concentrated on is ourselves,” Wright said. “We really have to take pride in ourselves. If we have the opportunity to see those teams, my hope is that we’re going to take full advantage of that opportunity to grow.”
Women’s tennis
Dylan D’Souza, Daily Bruin contributor
The Bruins are back in action after an 11-day break.
No. 5 UCLA women’s tennis (5-1) will travel to Northern California to face Saint Mary’s (1-4) and No. 24 California (4-1).
“We’ve had a good week of practice where we could push (the players) really hard,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster. “Now we’re just focused on keeping them healthy. Everyone’s ready to compete again.”
The Bruins faced the Gaels once and the Golden Bears twice last season and came out on top in all three matchups.
Cal’s lone defeat – a 1-4 loss against No. 6 South Carolina (5-2) – was the first match of its ITA Kick-Off weekend. The Bruins edged the South Carolina Gamecocks 4-3 in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships to advance to the quarterfinals.
The Bruins are undefeated all-time against the Gaels and possess a 43-35 all-time record against the Bears.
“This will be a good test for us because Cal had a good win against Pepperdine last weekend,” said redshirt junior Jada Hart. “This is for us to see where we are before we start the Pac-12 conference pretty soon.”
Hart said freshman Elysia Bolton will potentially sit out the match against Saint Mary’s due to her participation in the ITF USA 05A tournament. Hart has been practicing doubles with freshman Taylor Johnson, who will likely replace Bolton as Hart’s doubles partner on court two.
Men’s golf
Justin Auh, Daily Bruin reporter
The Bruins will participate in their second tournament in two weeks.
UCLA men’s golf will compete in the Southwestern Invitational at Westlake Village, California, beginning Monday – less than a week after the team finished fourth at The Prestige presented by Charles Schwab.
“We’ve got a quick turnaround. … We have to rest and recover to make sure everyone is healthy,” said coach Derek Freeman. “We can’t tweak a lot playing this close to competition, so we have to make some minor adjustments.”
At the 2018 Southwestern Invitational, the Bruins finished first at eight-under – 20 strokes ahead of second-place Pepperdine. Junior Hidetoshi Yoshihara, senior Cole Madey and sophomore Devon Bling all placed in the top five.
The trio will represent UCLA again this year and, along with sophomore Eddy Lai and freshman Sean Maruyama, will boast the same lineup they did last week.
“(Those) guys know that they need to play well,” Freeman said. “We’ve got guys at home who are ready to go at a moment’s notice. That’s what’s great about having a deep team.”
Freeman also said the team must prepare for the tree-lined layout of the North Ranch Country Club course.
“(The course) is very different from the one we just played at, with really fast greens,” Freeman said. “We’re going to have to rely on hitting straight and keeping the ball below the hole on our approaches. If we do those two things, and if we just stay in position always, we’ll have a great event.”
UCLA will play in the Southwestern Invitational from Monday to Tuesday.
Track and field
Vinny Lavalsiti, Daily Bruin reporter
The Bruins have one more opportunity to punch their tickets.
UCLA track and field will be competing at the MPSF Indoor Championships in Seattle this weekend in a last-ditch attempt to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
After missing the entirety of his sophomore indoor season due to injury, junior distance runner Robert Brandt is seeking to qualify in both the 5,000 meter and 3,000 meter – the result of what Brandt said was a tweak in his training regiment.
“(This year), I’ve almost backed off a little bit and trained a little more within myself,” Brandt said. “It’s helped me focus on the racing and the important workouts rather than burning myself out early, … which is why I think I got injured. (Progress) just comes with maturity and being an older runner.”
Brandt’s time of 13:40.82 in the 5000m at the Husky Classic – a UCLA indoor record – placed him 12th in the event. Brandt is about seven seconds away from the 16th-placed qualifier in the 3000m.
“It was definitely a goal I had going into the season (to qualify in both events),” Brandt said.
Sophomore Alyssa Wilson, who is also attempting to qualify in two events, is placed second and sixth in the shot put and weight throw with distances of 17.73m and 22.23m, respectively.
UCLA has 10 athletes on the cusp of joining six qualified Bruins at NCAAs in Birmingham, Alabama. Six of those 16 athletes are throwers.
“We’re all at the level (we) can be in (the top 16),” said senior Justin Stafford, who is 22.5 inches away from a qualifying spot in the weight throw. “I feel confident in everyone’s preparation leading up to (MPSF Indoor Championships).”