LA JOLLA “”mdash; With the faint cheers of “U.S.A” in
the background off the coast of San Diego, four UCLA women’s
water polo players illustrated exactly why the Bruins’ water
polo program has dominated the rest of the nation in recent
history.
Natalie Golda, Thalia Munro, Kelly Rulon and Kristina Kunkel,
who have participated on the national team for the past three
seasons, have made a trend of representing the blue and gold with
the utmost dignity.
Within the last calendar year, the foursome has taken home the
bronze medal from the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and delivered
Westwood an undefeated championship season.
At the FINA World League Tournament in La Jolla, Golda, Munro,
Rulon and Kunkel once again represented their country by competing
for the U.S. women’s water polo team.
And again, the Bruins were the cream of the crop on an
international stage.
Rulon led the way with six goals in the U.S. team’s first
four contests, while Golda registered four, Munro had three and
Kunkel scored one. The additional contributions the Bruins made on
defense helped to clearly define the high expectations that were
met.
“Every year there are several UCLA players on the national
team,” Golda said. “It’s a testament to the
coach, the players and just the quality of the Bruin
program.”
The national team’s strong resemblance to the UCLA
starting lineup provides the current Bruins with bragging rights,
if only modestly.
“I want to brag about how good UCLA is, but I don’t
want to upset anybody on the team, so I try to only talk about it
to my friends and family,” Rulon said.
The tournament was not short on talented competition. In a
precursor to the world championships on July 18-31 in Montreal, the
tournament also showcased the Greek, Australian and Canadian teams.
Greece took home the silver medal in Athens, one step higher on the
podium than the U.S. team last summer.
“It says a lot about the UCLA tradition when we can
contribute at the highest level of competition,” Golda said.
“It really is just about being able to represent our country
and our school as best as we can.”
The U.S. team had a successful showing at the tournament,
winning four of its five contests, and the UCLA foursome was a big
reason why.
During a physical second game against Australia on Friday night,
the score was tied 2-2 entering the third quarter and Australia had
the momentum after ending the half with two quick strikes. But in
the second half, Golda, Munro and Rulon took over the game and put
to rest any ideas of an upset over the home team.
Less than a minute into the quarter, Golda recorded her first of
two goals on the evening to give United States the lead. Within the
next minute and a half, Munro followed her teammate’s lead
with a goal of her own.
Not to be outdone by their fellow Bruins, Rulon and Kunkel each
had two key takeaways as Australia was in the midst of a scoring
opportunity.
The game was in many ways a microcosm of UCLA’s undefeated
season, as each Bruin found a unique way to contribute to the
victory.
“It’s really nice that each of us can find a way to
step up and help our country’s team succeed,” Munro
said. “It’s similar to what we did during the
season.”
While the success of the national women’s water polo team
was heavily infleunced by the presence of UCLA players this past
weekend, none of them would concede that any type of arrogance has
developed as a result of playing for a perennial national
powerhouse.
“We really can’t look at the national team as UCLA
and everybody else, because we are one cohesive team once we get
into the pool,” Munro said. “But it’s still
really nice to be a part of something like the Bruin
family.”
Add modesty to the list of contributions the UCLA foursome has
brought to the international level.