W. water polo’s strong defense drowns USC, 8-2

W. water polo’s strong defense drowns USC, 8-2

By Emmanuelle Ejercito

The fifth-ranked UCLA women’s water polo team completed its
season sweep over USC with a convincing win yesterday at the Men’s
Gym pool.

Although the Bruins felt the effect of fatigue after playing a
tough physical game against the English National Team the day
before, UCLA was still able to defeat the Trojans 8-2.

"We looked a little tired," UCLA head coach Guy Baker said, "but
it was a good effort. The English team just wore us down. Then
you’ve got to come back and play another game. We were sharper (the
other day)."

UCLA goalie Nicolle Payne proved to be tough to score against.
Payne tallied with eight saves, while USC’s Krista Millard had
seven.

"Every game (Nicolle) comes up with some really nice saves,"
Baker said. "Nicolle is so consistent at a very high level. I’m
really happy with her. I think she is doing a real good job on
communicating and things like that too."

Payne, however, had a lot of help. With their tough defense the
Bruins were able to dominate the Trojans, although USC was the
first to score at 4:35 in the first quarter, the Bruins held their
opponent scoreless until the fourth quarter when the Trojans’
Christina McCall put one in the net. USC had many opportunities
with 6-on-5 situations, but the Bruins were able to prevent the
Trojans from converting.

"Our defense was pretty solid," said Baker, who was hoping that
the intensity UCLA displayed against the English would again
emerge. "We controlled things from a defensive standpoint and we
had most of the offensive attacks."

After USC scored in the first quarter, UCLA responded with six
unanswered goals. Although UCLA scored eight goals, Baker feels
there is need for improvement.

"We need to work on our shooting," Baker said. "We had some
goals that we probably should have scored."