UCLA women’s water polo records three wins at Stanford Invitational
Junior attacker Kodi Hill said despite losing the Stanford Invitational championship to Stanford, the UCLA team is pleased with where it is at this point in the season. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Savannah Shapiro
Feb. 2, 2015 1:22 a.m.
Tied at the half with four goals apiece against Cal on Saturday, the UCLA women’s water polo team faced its biggest competition thus far in the early season at the Stanford Invitational. Playing against another team that put up similar offensive numbers gave the Bruins a challenge.
After a much needed regrouping, the Bruins were able to come back firing in the following periods, capping off a 10-5 win.
“I told them to settle down a little bit,” said coach Brandon Brooks. “That’s been the story for both games. In times in our games when we started to get out of control and force things, that’s when we made mistakes. So I told them to calm down a little bit and relax and not try to do too much. I think we did a better job of that.”
In a similar fashion, during the previous game against Hawai’i, the Bruins faced similar opposition struggles when they ended the first quarter tied at two. However, during the second period, the Bruins were able to pick up their offense and land a 12-4 victory.
“Hawai’i was the first opponent this year that we really faced some opposition from,” Brooks said. “It was interesting to see how we responded to playing an opponent when we went at them they went back at us. It was really good for us.”
Though on Saturday the Bruins faced both Cal and Hawai’i, two highly ranked teams, they were able to adjust their game play to find a defensive and offensive rhythm.
“We had a slow start, but we really just took a breath after the first quarter,” said redshirt senior goalkeeper Sami Hill. “We focused on what we needed to do instead of rushing – we made it our pace of the game.”
Following the two games on Saturday, the Bruins faced both No. 9 Indiana and No. 1 Stanford on Sunday. The Bruins were able to cruise past Indiana with an 11-4 victory and move onto the final game against Stanford.
Down 6-3 at the end of the first half, the Bruins were facing one of their biggest deficits thus far in the season against the Cardinal.
However, at the end of the third quarter, UCLA was able to close that gap and was trailing by one point going into the fourth period. In the final quarter, UCLA could not find an answer to Stanford’s offense and fell to the Cardinal 10-6.
“I think we played a really good team game,” Hill said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our effort. We had 100 percent effort the whole time and we never stopped firing. We had a strong performance and it showed us playing team defense. I think that’s what separates (us) from other teams: our ability to lean on each other and be a team.”
The Bruins ended the Stanford Invitational in second place.
“I think we played really hard and gave it all we had after the long weekend, which is something to be proud of,” said junior attacker Kodi Hill. “We’re all bummed that we couldn’t come up with a win, but we are definitely happy with the place we are in right now so early in the season.
This past weekend, the Bruins were able to add a total of three more wins to their record, ending the tournament with an overall conference record of 9-1.
“This weekend was a good test to see where we are at,” Brooks said. “It’s important to know where we are this time of year and where our progress needs to be. It’s all about leaving this weekend having playing four good games and leaving with an understanding of what we need to work on from here.”
