Another weekend, another four wins for the UCLA women’s water polo team.
The No. 3 Bruins (8-0, MPSF 1-0) traveled to Santa Barbara for four games at the UCSB Winter Invite and came away with their perfect record still intact.
UCLA started the weekend with a 15-2 victory over CSU Monterey Bay on Saturday morning. The team followed that up a few hours later with a 14-6 win over No. 14 CSU Northridge.
Although a few players had standout performances, junior attacker Emily Donohoe and sophomore defender Alys Williams both stressed how the tournament was a full team effort, with many of the team’s non-starters contributing significantly to the Bruins’ efforts this weekend.
In the morning, UCLA defeated No. 16 UCSB 14-6, with 10 different players scoring at least one goal. In the afternoon, they beat No. 20 Pacific 12-6, maintaining a strong rotation of players with goals coming from eight different players during the game.
Coach Brandon Brooks seemed happy with the weekend.
“We played well most of the time and very well at some points,” he said.
He highlighted the first period of the game against Pacific and the first half against Northridge as the team’s best moments of the weekend.
Over the course of the weekend, 15 Bruins scored goals. Junior attacker Emily Donohoe led the team with 11 goals, including eight goals in the first two games.
The Bruins were equally strong on defense, only allowing 21 goals in the tournament.
“We definitely played really strong, especially in the first two games. Everyone stepped up to the plate,” Donohoe said.
The strong defense was helped by both UCLA goalies. Redshirt junior Sami Hill and sophomore Alex Musselman combined for nine saves against UCSB and 10 against Pacific.
“Both of our goalies played really well,” said Alys Williams. Donohoe echoed that sentiment, saying the goalies helped the team’s defensive efforts.
Although Musselman played more this weekend than she did last weekend, Brooks was clear about who would get the majority of the play time going forward in the season.
“Sami is our starting goalie. Alex is working behind her as a capable backup,” Brooks said. He went on to add that Musselman has been making progress this season.
Next weekend, the Bruins will travel to Stanford to play another four games, including one against fifth-ranked California.