W. water polo sinks Cal, brings home title

Monday, May 13, 1996

In only its second year,

UCLA wins national championship in DavisBy Mark J. Dittmer

Daily Bruin Contributor

DAVIS, Calif. ­ In the end, everything turned out how it
was supposed to. The UCLA women’s water polo team is the national
champion, and ­ as was the case throughout the season ­
no one else was even close. The final score of the championship
game: UCLA 8, California 4.

As the final game approached, both teams played some of their
most inspiring water polo of the season.

The Bruins, who finished the season 29-1, may have reached yet a
new level of play this weekend under the hot sun at UC Davis. On
the tournament’s opening day, they thrashed both Maryland and UC
Santa Barbara, allowing just one goal in the process.

They put Stanford out to pasture Saturday morning with an easy
8-1 win, and they dealt a very competitive San Diego State team a
12-6 defeat in the semifinals. Going into the championship game,
the Bruins were playing with the consistency they had been lacking
during the latter part of the season.

But just as the Bruins had rolled into the title game, Cal
charged ahead through the tournament with equal success. The Bear
defense allowed only six goals in its first four games. In its
semifinal, Cal ended Slippery Rock’s 30-game winning streak, dating
back to last year, with an 8-2 rout. By the title game, the Bears
were brimming with confidence.

"We’re playing great," team captain Karen Cook said after the
semifinal. "If we’re on, we’ve got a great chance. We’re not on
every day, but if we’re on, it’s ours."

But UCLA met the Bear tidal wave head on and sent it crashing
down on itself. The clash began in a first quarter that was
probably the most exciting of the tournament.

Each team’s defense forced the other to work hard for every
shot, and both offenses executed well enough to get good shots off,
only to see them stopped by a leaping save or bounce off of a post.
And in a quarter that could easily have ended in a 4-4 or 5-5 tie,
the score was only 1-1.

Maybe the most agonizing miss was by Cal’s Kaliya Young, who
successfully lobbed a shot over UCLA goalie Nicholle Payne, only to
see it fall just short of the goal line and be pulled out by
Catherine von Schwarz for a save.

The save was actually one of two by von Schwarz in the first
quarter. In the second quarter, von Schwarz returned to her usual
role on the offensive end, while the saves were left to Payne, who
was more than willing to make them.

Their efforts may have provided the spark the Bruins needed to
pull ahead.

In the second quarter, von Schwarz was in the hole receiving
passes to score UCLA’s second and third goals of the day, and it
was Payne making the most spectacular of her 15 saves on the day.
The Bruin lead was 3-1 and after a Jennifer McFerrin lob, it was
4-1.

But Cal still seemed to be hanging with the Bruins until
consecutive goals by Katie Tenenbaum and Coralie Simmons made it
6-1 before halftime.

"The second quarter really killed us," Cal coach Maurene O’Toole
said. "We got outscored 5-0 in it. But we have to give their goalie
a lot of credit. We got our shots on her, but we just couldn’t put
them in."

And so with Payne battling at the center of the Bruin defense,
Cal never threatened in the second half. As time expired, the UCLA
bench plunged into the pool to join its teammates, taking coaches
Guy Baker and Leslie Storey with them.

"I could’ve imagined (winning the championship) after our first
tournament," said Baker, referring to the tournament in La Jolla
when the Bruins won their first four games of the season.

Going into that tournament, the core of the team was a group of
freshmen and a few upperclassmen. Baker’s only goal going into La
Jolla was to see what this team was made of. He found out a lot
that weekend. This weekend, he found out his team exactly what his
team was made of ­ national champions.

FRED HE/Daily Bruin

The UCLA women’s water polo team found itself up in arms after
capping a 29-1 season with a national championship after Sunday’s
8-4 victory over Cal.PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin

The UCLA women’s water polo team poses with its first-ever
national championship trophy.PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin

UCLA goalie Nicolle Payne’s 15 saves against Cal in the national
championship game helped the Bruins to an 8-4 victory.