Top-ranked women’s water polo to maintain focus against new opponent

UCLA women’s water polo’s 10-game win streak has lasted nearly two months. It has persisted through several ranked opponents and different locations. This weekend, however, the Bruins will carry that streak into an area they haven’t played in all year: east of California.

The No. 1 Bruins (19-1, 3-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) hadn’t played outside California before last weekend, when they traveled west to Hawai’i and went 2-0. Now, UCLA heads east to play No. 7 Arizona State (16-6, 2-2) in Tempe, Ariz.

Though the Bruins have coasted to 10 straight victories, they are keeping their focus specifically on the Sun Devils – a team they’ve yet to face all season. The last time UCLA played in Tempe, Ariz., on March 2, 2013, the Bruins lost 7-6.

“It’s always fun to play a new team that you haven’t played against because it changes so much every year,” said junior attacker Kodi Hill. “ASU is one of those teams that never backs down or stops playing hard, so it will be a good test for us going into the next few weeks playing Stanford and ‘SC coming up.”

The goal for UCLA is simple: Stick to what’s been working for the 10-game win streak, and don’t get too amped up for Arizona State.

“We don’t focus on the games that we have won in the past,” said junior attacker Rachel Fattal. “Every game is new and every tournament is new, so it’s more of forgetting about the past and more of looking forward and doing what we have to do for the next game that we are up against.”

The last matchup between the two teams was during the 2014 MPSF semifinal game, which the Bruins won 10-7. In that game, Fattal took control, scoring four goals to lead UCLA to the win.

“The keys for us are patience and poise,” said coach Brandon Brooks. “Sometimes we get too rushed, and we want to take a shot right away instead of really preparing the opportunity. If we just throw something up without it really being a great shot, they are going to eat it up and they are going to make it really difficult to score.”

Brooks added that both UCLA and Arizona State play different styles of water polo. Specifically, the two teams employ different defensive strategies. As opposed to UCLA’s man-marking defense, Arizona State plays a scattered zone defense.

“We have to be patient on offense and we have to get a lot of movement, because they are really good if we are stagnant,” Hill said. “They are really good at passing off drives, so we just have to be really smart and take our time.”

Fattal added that good passing and communication will be key factors in attempting to come away with a victory against Arizona State.

To maintain that same offensive and defensive dominance that the Bruins have had throughout this season, it requires the same effort levels that they have put into previous games.

“I enjoy this team a lot,” Brooks said. “I think we’ve had fun throughout the season, and we have done well. I think they show up every day and work hard – and that’s really all that I can ask.”