Women’s water polo’s second-quarter surges help maintain seven-game win streak
Sophomore goalkeeper Jahmea Bent logged four saves against No. 13 UC Davis on Saturday, and three saves against then-No. 17 Fresno State on Sunday at the Cal Cup. UCLA women’s water polo has won seven consecutive games, and will host Hawai’i in its home opener Friday. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Jack Perez
Jan. 31, 2019 12:43 a.m.
For the seventh straight year, the Bruins are undefeated through seven games.
No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo (7-0) has won the second quarter in six of its seven games this year, including both games at the Cal Cup last weekend.
The Bruins have outscored their opponents 26-12 in second quarters this season, while only topping their opponents 53-36 over the other three quarters.
Freshman attacker Val Ayala said she believes her team came out a bit more energized after a couple of lackadaisical first quarters last weekend.
“I think maybe we just got a little burst of energy,” Ayala said. “I don’t think there was any one specific thing that caused that. Just a little bit more energy coming off of that first quarter.”
UCLA had big second quarters against then-No.17 Fresno State (2-6) and then-No. 9 Michigan (2-2). The Bruins had fallen behind the Michigan Wolverines after the first quarter, trailing 2-1, but outscored the Wolverines 4-2 in the second and never lost the lead again.
Against Fresno State, UCLA put up five unanswered goals in the last four minutes of the second quarter to take a 7-3 lead into halftime. The Bruins outscored the Bulldogs by just one goal in the second half to win the game.
Coach Adam Wright said the team is still learning to play together and the second quarter outbursts are not based on just one or two factors.
“I’m not going to attribute it to one thing or another,” Wright said. “This weekend and last weekend, we’re finding out a ton of information about ourselves. Overall, we have moments where we’re doing a really good job and moments when we’re doing not so good.”
This is Wright’s second year with the team, and he is still implementing his play style with both the veterans he inherited and newcomers.
Sophomore goalie Jahmea Bent said she believes as the team becomes more familiar with Wright’s playbook, the Bruins will be able to do better in all four quarters.
“The biggest difference this year is learning,” Bent said. “For everyone to be on the same page, learning the plays – it’s just a good blueprint. With everyone on the same page, it’s a little bit less challenging.”
UCLA will face three top-15 schools Friday and Saturday, including a rematch with Fresno State. Wright said he looks for his team to improve every time they get in the pool and he hopes to keep his team’s trajectory on an upward path.
“We’re growing as a team,” Wright said. “We’ve got a lot of young players. Our goal is to grow from game to game. We just have so much to learn and we can’t do it all in one day.”
