Water polo blows tourney competition out of water



February 20, 1996

Water polo blows tourney competition out of water

By Mark J. Dittmer

Daily Bruin Contributor

The UCLA women’s water polo team swept away the field in the UC
San Diego tournament this weekend, beating its opponents in the
tournament by a combined score of 49-11.

The Bruins had looked at the UCSD tournament as a place where
they could test themselves as the young squad saw its first action
of the season. Now that they have played together, the conclusions
are obvious.

"I think we’re a pretty good team," UCLA head coach Guy Baker
said.

As the tournament moved on, that statement began to become an
understatement.

The Bruins made a big splash in their first tournament game
Friday morning, whipping USC 17-3. They put themselves in the
championship match with two Saturday wins: a 13-2 win over tourney
host UCSD, and a 7-2 victory over UC Davis. UCLA finished off its
championship run with a 12-4 win over San Diego State.

Freshman Coralee Simmons starred in the championship game with
four goals, and fellow freshman Catherine von Schwarz scored three
times. Nicholle Payne made eight saves in the championship match,
finishing the tournament with a 2.75 goals-against average.

And there were even more heroes for the Bruins. Megan Oesting,
one of the team’s four upperclassmen (out of 25 roster players)
scored twice against San Diego State. Oesting, a swimmer on the
UCLA swim team, just started playing water polo for UCLA last
March. On Sunday, she scored two goals in the championship
match.

"Megan had an excellent tournament," Baker said. "She’s exceeded
my expectations."

Katie Tenenbaum, a freshman substitute for the Bruins, starred
defensively along with goalie Payne.

"Everyone played very well. It was a good group effort," Baker
said.

But just as the Bruins might have started feeling a little
overconfident, they were brought back down to earth in the
exhibition series of the tournament, held after the championship
game. The UCSD tournament has a club division and a university
division. In the exhibition series, club division champion Sunset
San Diego humbled UCLA, 15-2.

Baker was not surprised by the big loss.

"(Sunset) would have to be one of the best teams in the world.
They could compete internationally, and some of their players do,"
Baker said.

Indeed, Sunset San Diego rode into the exhibition game with the
Bruins having outscored opponents in its four club division games
49-16, and they had beaten UCLA last year 24-1.

"We need a little bit of improvement in many aspects," Baker
said. "We don’t adjust well defensively: we play good at one
defense but we don’t adjust well. We need to improve our
counterattack."

Of course, after winning the championship in as dominating a
fashion as the Bruins did, Baker said he "definitely can’t
complain." The Bruins come home with a 4-0 record, and they will
most likely retain their No. 1 ranking.

This weekend, the Bruins play at home against USC on Friday, and
against UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. Both games will be at the
Men’s Gym Pool. These upcoming contests may be closer, as UCLA will
be missing freshmen Simmons, von Schwarz, and Mandy McAloon. All
three of them will be at the Junior National Team tryouts during
the weekend.

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© 1996 ASUCLA Communications Board

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