LA JOLLA “”mdash; Entering this weekend’s FINA World League
Tournament, the U.S. women’s water polo team was unsure if it
had played together long enough to build a cohesive unit that feeds
off instinctual play in the pool.
After all, the team had only practiced together for two weeks
before entering the tournament and would be facing some of the top
international players throughout the summer.
So coach Heather Moodey decided to stress one thing:
teamwork.
“On a national team, the players might not be so familiar
with each other,” Moodey said.
“It is definitely an edge for such a young team like this
one if we create some chemistry.”
However, four of the players on the U.S. team, all hailing from
UCLA, entered the tournament with a working rapport, as they have
spent their collegiate careers becoming familiar with each
others’ tendencies and how their temperaments might change
over the course of a game.
The performance of those four Bruins ““ Natalie Golda,
Thalia Munro, Kelly Rulon and Kristina Kunkel ““ has
solidified the U.S. team.
However, the Bruins’ success in the pool might be
secondary to the influence they have had out of it. The four
players are some of the more experienced veterans on a relatively
young team, and have utilized their teamwork and leadership in the
early stages of international play.
“This team is really young and we’re still getting
used to playing together,” Golda said. “So it helps
that the four of us have played together in the past. It gives the
team something to build on.”
The Bruins also carry a winning attitude from their collegiate
success over to the international stage, as the foursome has just
come off an undefeated championship season under coach Adam
Krikorian.
Having not lost a match since the Olympic Games last year, the
players entered the FINA tournament with sustained momentum.
“We have gotten used to winning at UCLA, that’s for
sure,” Rulon said. “Winning really is contagious, and
hopefully the whole team gets into the mindset of expecting to
win.”
In addition to the winning ways they have grown accustomed to,
the Bruins bring a sense of cohesion outside of the pool.
“We have so much fun just hanging out, spending time
together,” Rulon said.
“It makes it that much better when you really like your
teammates.”
Despite the intangibles that Golda, Munro, Rulon and Kunkel
bring to the U.S. squad, they still are getting used to the idea of
sparking strong chemistry with players they spend the rest of the
year competing against.
“It’s funny to go the entire year trying to beat
these girls and then all of a sudden try to develop teamwork within
a matter of weeks,” Munro said.