Just three days removed from garnering the NCAA Women’s
Water Polo Championship, the Bruins can’t help but start
thinking about next season.
Gone will be one of the most explosive players in collegiate
water polo, senior Natalie Golda, who will graduate next month. Yet
even without her, next year’s Bruins will have a dynamic
similar to this year’s team that went undefeated and won an
NCAA-record 33 straight games.
That doesn’t mean UCLA coach Adam Krikorian expects next
year’s team to match this year’s unblemished
record.
“In terms of the hardware and the stats, this year’s
team can’t be topped,” he said. “It doesn’t
get any better.”
When next year’s team does begin practice next fall, it
undoubtedly will be the favorite to repeat as champion. Every
player but Golda and little-used Nicolette Grams will be returning,
and the reserve players will have gained championship
experience.
But when asked, Krikorian believes the hoopla surrounding next
year’s team will be subdued.
“I think it’s done,” the seventh-year coach
said. “Once the season is over and you’re beginning a
new season, and once you’ve done it already, the pressure
won’t be the same as it was this year.”
“We don’t want to be held to a standard,”
sophomore driver Molly Cahill said. “We just want to play the
best water polo we can as a team.”
From a leadership standpoint, Golda’s absence will be
noticeable.
The senior captain, who made her presence felt everyday, was the
loudest voice in the locker room and the pool.
“Nat was always someone on the team that brought it 100
percent, and people knew that when they were guarding her,”
sophomore goalie Emily Feher said. “Most of all, we’re
going to miss her enthusiasm.”
In her place, junior driver Thalia Munro will likely step in to
take the reins of the team leader.
“Thalia does a good job relating to players, young and
old,” Krikorian said. “She’ll certainly be a
leader for us next year, but we’re going to rely on
leadership from many people, like this year.”
If the Bruins are to repeat next season, they’ll have
three teams ““ USC, Stanford and Hawai’i ““ in
their path.
The Trojans, who finished in third place at the NCAA
Championships last weekend, nabbed the No. 1 recruit in the country
in Kami Craig (Santa Barbara High) and are returning most of their
starters.
NCAA runner-up Stanford also has an extremely young squad that
loses the experience of two-meter defenders Kelty and Hannah Luber,
but is returning everyone else.
Fourth-place Hawai’i graduates key player Beth Novick, but
is expected to bring in a bevy of international recruits.
The Bruins, meanwhile, welcome one of the nation’s top
recruiting classes in Anne Belden (Newport Harbor High), Tanya
Gandy (Rancho Bernardo High) and Katie Rulon (University of San
Diego High).
“They are all very talented, and they’re great
kids,” Krikorian said. “Their personalities will fit in
very well, which will make it a very easy transition in the coming
year.”
Though it’s a new season with new players for the Bruins,
the goal remains the same.
“A national championship is our major goal,” Feher
said. “To get that at the end is all that matters.”