This weekend’s Stanford Invitational will be more than
just another indicator of how dominant this year’s top-ranked
UCLA women’s water polo team may be. For the Bruins, who
tasted defeat at the hands of Stanford in the waning moments of
last season’s semifinal of the MPSF tournament, playing
against the No. 3 Cardinal in their second game of the tournament
this Saturday will be a chance to exact some measure of revenge.
“I don’t think about or dwell on it, but it’s
kind of in the back of my mind,” sophomore goalie Emily Feher
said. “I’m sure when we do play Stanford, I’ll
think about that and I’ll just remember how I felt and how
everyone felt. It’ll be that little driving force for last
year’s players.” The Stanford Invitational will also
feature defending NCAA Champion USC, Cal, Indiana, Hawaii, San Jose
State and UC Davis. Considering the relative strength of their
opponents, which may include the Trojans in the championship game,
the Bruins will need to come out strong to win their games this
weekend. But coach Adam Krikorian stated that his team is not
particularly interested in sending a message to its conference foes
this weekend. “We just want to go out and play good water
polo,” Krikorian said. “We’d love to send a
message, but we’re not thinking about that.” Coming off
victories over No. 9 Michigan and No. 11 Indiana at the Michigan
Invitational two weeks ago, the Bruins may ultimately send a
message to their opposition whether they intend to or not. With a
roster featuring five Olympians, some consider this the most
dominant women’s water polo team ever assembled. Krikorian,
though, refuses to let his players buy into the idea that they are
unbeatable. “On paper we look great, but games aren’t
played on paper. Until this weekend, we won’t really know how
good this team can be,” he said. By weekend’s end,
Krikorian, as well as the rest of the teams in the conference, may
soon find out how good this year’s Bruin team may truly
be.
FRESHMAN STANDOUT: Out of the eight freshmen on the roster this
season, driver Brittany Rowe may show the most promise. Rowe, who
scored a total of seven goals at the Michigan Invitational, seems
to be quickly learning what it means to be a member of the Bruins
and is looking forward to being part of UCLA’s long-standing
rivalry against Stanford. “I plan to try to stay as
aggressive as possible,” Rowe said. As the lone senior on
this year’s team, Natalie Golda feels that she needs to set
the tone for Rowe and the rest of a still-young team. “I hope
to show them how we do it over here at UCLA,” Golda said.
“I want to show them how to be a Bruin.”