The UCLA women’s water polo team has earned its ranking as the third best team in the nation. The team has beaten No. 4 California and No. 5 Irvine, and lost to No. 2 Stanford. It was also third at last years’ NCAA tournament.
Impressive though that ranking may be to an outsider, coach Brandon Brooks is clear that third is not where the team wants to be.
This weekend may present the Bruins (12-1) with an opportunity to change that when they travel to Irvine for the second time in as many weeks for the UC Irvine Invitational. With nine of the top 10 teams in the country convening in the pools at UC Irvine and in Corona Del Mar, the UCI tournament should prove to be an important weekend for the Bruins.
Of the top teams, UCLA has yet to face its crosstown rival, USC. The players said they hope for a chance to play the Trojans this weekend.
For the Bruins to play the No. 1 Trojans, both teams would have to win their first three games in what redshirt junior goalkeeper Sami Hill called a “pretty tough bracket.” That means UCLA would have to beat No. 18 San Diego State and likely No. 6 Hawai’i on Saturday. Two wins from Stanford would set up a rematch of the championship game of the Stanford Invitational on Sunday morning. During that game, the Cardinal beat the Bruins 8-4 with a strong second half performance, but Brooks said he would still like the opportunity to take on the Cardinal once again.
USC, meanwhile, needs to make it past Cal State Bakersfield, the winner of the No. 8 Loyola Marymount – No. 10 Cal State Northridge game, and either UC Irvine or Cal on its side of the bracket.
With this many strong teams, UCLA needs to perform well if it hopes to win an eighth national championship. While a loss in the later rounds against Stanford or USC would not be devastating to the team, losing an early game could potentially be devastating for UCLA’s ranking.
“We have to get through Saturday first,” Brooks said.
Sophomore attacker Rachel Fattal thinks that the Bruins’ progress over the last couple weeks could help propel them through the tournament.
“We have played 13 games now and I think we know what we need to work on. We’re tending to it in practice and I think we’re getting better,” Fattal said.
Fattal stressed how the team has improved its counterattack and zone offense lately, while Hill mentioned that the team’s defense has been improving this year, especially compared to years past.
Sophomore center India Forster agreed that defense has been important lately, stressing that helping Hill out is an important part of the team’s strategy.
“(Hill’s) a stud, but (we are) always putting up another arm (to block shots),” Forster said.
UCLA will need all that improvement in an important tournament against top teams this weekend, but Brooks says the team is ready to just keep playing water polo.
“It’s four more games. It’s exciting for us,” Brooks said.