After his team suffered losses to its key rivals the past two
weekends, UCLA women’s water polo coach Adam Krikorian has a
pretty good handle on his team’s progress at this point in
the season. “We stand as the third-best team in the
country,” Krikorian said. “We lost to Stanford and USC,
so they’re both better than us right now, but we’re
close.” Close is not where this team wants to be. Entering
the season, the UCLA women’s water polo team (11-2, 4-0 MPSF)
was ranked No. 1 following an undefeated 2005. But this season has
seen more parity, as it appears to be a three-team race for the
title with USC as the current frontrunner. Going into
Friday’s home matchup with No. 6 California (5-6, 1-1),
Krikorian feels there are still a few factors that his Bruins
clearly need to work on. “We have to get back to playing with
some energy and some passion,” Krikorian said. “I think
tactically we’re getting better, but we need to make sure we
play with a consistent energy level.” Krikorian was not
satisfied with the Bruins’ energy level and focus at last
weekend’s Gaucho Invitational. He hopes that the loss to
Stanford last Sunday will serve as a motivator. “Like I told
(the team), if we’re playing with energy and passion and we
don’t execute, I’ll be frustrated but I’ll be OK
with it,” Krikorian said. “If we’re playing with
no passion and no energy, I’ll be very upset, and they should
be upset too. That’s unacceptable.” Krikorian said
he’s not sure what’s causing the methodical pace during
games. The Bruin coach thinks it’s a matter of carrying the
intensity from practice over to the weekend, and his players agree.
“It’s frustrating when you don’t play well when
you put so much time and effort in,” senior Kristina Kunkel
said. “But I think its more frustrating when you know you
could be doing a lot better. We know we’re capable of playing
really well and doing really well, but we haven’t lately.
“We need to focus on having passion and desire. “We
need to focus on getting pumped up before games and wanting to
win.” Aside from facing California on Friday, the Bruins will
also travel to San Diego to face Cal State San Bernardino and No.
12 UC San Diego on Saturday.
INJURY UPDATE: Sophomore Brittany Rowe has been
hampered by injury all season, and finally she knows why. The
results of an MRI revealed that Rowe has a bulging disc in her
lower back. “We’re just going to play it day by
day,” Krikorian said of Rowe’s injury.
“She’s slowly getting back in the water and doing a
little bit. We just have to monitor how she feels every day.”
Rowe played an important role in the Bruin offense last season,
ranking fifth on the team with 36 goals. Krikorian added that Rowe
is doubtful for the weekend.