Weary but undefeated, w. water polo looks to dunk Gauchos
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 4, 1996 9:00 p.m.
Friday, April 5, 1996
Bruins keep perspective on MPSF tourney, prepare for Santa
Barbara’s left-handersBy Mark J. Dittmer
Daily Bruin Contributor
The UCLA women’s water polo team is going to try to stay awake
during its trip to Santa Barbara this weekend. It might be tough,
though, because the Bruins are tired.
Beginning over spring break, when most UCLA students were off
relaxing and enjoying some time off, the women’s water polo team
(15-0, 5-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) had to go through
double days every day.
"Coming off doing nothing (during finals week) and then working
our butts off  that’ll rip your body apart," Megan Oesting
said. "So anyway, we’re pretty tired."
But the Bruins are not so tired that they can’t win, or at least
they don’t think they are.
"They need to concentrate and they need to play well," says
assistant coach Leslie Storey. "But I think we’re capable of doing
that and we will do that."
The Bruins and the Gauchos face off on Saturday. In their last
meeting, at the Stanford tournament, UCLA whipped the Gauchos 12-2.
But UC Santa Barbara has given the Bruins trouble in the past,
notably in an 8-4 Bruin win in February that was closer than the
final score indicates.
"They have a left-handed hole set which is hard to guard because
you’re used to guarding right-handed hole sets," Jennifer McFerrin
said.
The left-handed, two-meter player she refers to is Suzanne
Eskilson, and McFerrin is the most likely candidate to guard
her.
The Bruins also want to avoid looking past Santa Barbara to the
MPSF tournament, which will be held in Berkeley next weekend. After
this upcoming game with the Gauchos, the postseason begins in full
swing, with the national qualifying tournament two weeks later, and
the national championships two weeks after that.
Despite all of that, a loss to the Gauchos would be a huge
surprise. The Bruins, after all, are undefeated. And they have
handled themselves admirably in tough situations and in close
games.
"It’s nice to have someone in the goal (Nicholle Payne) that’s
always consistent and always playing well," Storey said. "Coralie
Simmons is a great player. She comes up big in big games, kind of a
clutch player. I think everyone’s playing well, actually. I think
everyone’s improving."
UCLA Sports Info
Jennifer McFerrin
