• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Photo

Senior Kacy Kunkel and the Bruins get back in the water for the new season.

WOMEN'S WATER POLO Saturday and Sunday @ Stanford Invitational Palo Alto

The last time the women’s water polo team ventured up to Northern California for a tournament, it came back with an NCAA championship. Although this weekend does not hold the promise of a third consecutive title for the Bruins, the season-opening tournament in Palo Alto at Stanford could foretell what the next couple of months might mean for the women of UCLA water polo.

Over two days, the UCLA women’s water polo team will have its chance to prove that the strength, agility and heart that has allowed the Bruins to dominate the sport in the past few years has not left them. Set to play a full schedule of worthy competitors including Stanford and USC, who handed the Bruins their only two losses last season, coach Adam Krikorian and his players are not intimidated.

“I’m really excited for this weekend. Obviously every game is going to be hard. It’s a new season and new teams, but hopefully we’ll do well,” senior forward Kacy Kunkel said. “Everyone is really bonding and playing well. It’s always hard to start off at the beginning of the season, but once you get the first game jitters out, everything should fall into place.”

Despite the uncertainty of the upcoming weekend and the Bruins facing new and improved teams such as Cal, who finished last year’s season fifth, and Hawai’i, who always had a competitive edge in the pool, Krikorian looks forward to the weekend.

“This is a good weekend to find out where we’re at,” Krikorian said. “Three of the games we play are going to be against teams that are very good, so we’ll find out very quickly this weekend what our strengths and weaknesses are.”

Defense will play a large role in the upcoming tournament. The Bruins, always associated with a strong presence in the back half, have been working in the off-season to be able to maintain a low goals-against average.

“We expect to do the things we have been practicing well, specifically defense,” Krikorian said. “We’ve spent a lot of time in the last couple of weeks working on defense, and that’s where I expect them to be the sharpest.”

Senior goalkeeper Emily Feher agreed with her coach.

“We’ve always had a really strong defense,” Feher said. “That always takes time to build, but I think we have the right chemistry to get there.”

Ultimately, for the women’s water polo team, this weekend will be an opportunity to test the water.

“That’s the fun thing about playing in the first tournament. You just don’t know,” Krikorian said. “There’s a little bit of anxiety that goes along with the first tournament. It’s a whole new game when they drop the ball and you’re playing against someone new and different.”