Bruins face tough lineup at UCSB

  NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Junior attacker Elaine
Zivich rises above her opponent for a pass last weekend.
The Bruins play in the UCSB tournament this weekend.

By Emily Whichard
Daily Bruin Contributor

After a warm-up tournament and a breezy conference victory, the
No. 2 UCLA women’s water polo team is ready to get down to
business. This weekend the Bruins travel to UC Santa Barbara for
the Gaucho Tournament, where they face a challenging pool including
conference rivals USC, Stanford and California.

The 16-team round-robin competition offers the Bruins four
chances to improve their 3-1 overall record in their pursuit of the
NCAA title. In water polo, only two teams per conference are given
the opportunity to compete in the national tournament. With the top
four teams in the nation all residing within the MPSF conference,
the Bruins can’t afford any more losses.

“This weekend is very important,” said Head Coach
Adam Krikorian. “Since only the conference champs and the
second-best team make it into NCAAs, any time we face Cal, USC or
Stanford it is an extremely important game.”

All of the MPSF teams will compete, with the exception of
Hawai’i. Also at the tournament will be Michigan, UC Davis,
UC San Diego, Princeton, Loyola Marymount and Hartwick. The Bruins
have all-time winning records against each of these teams.

WOMEN’S WATERPOLO UCSB
Tournament Saturday – Sunday All Day Santa Barbara, CA

UCLA enters the tournament in Bracket A. It will begin its
weekend with a game against UC Irvine on Saturday morning. If
things go according to the team’s plans, the Bruins will face
the winner of the Princeton vs. UCSB matchup in the afternoon.
Sunday’s game lineups are dependent upon Saturday’s
results.

In the initial National Collegiate Women’s Top 20 Poll,
the Bruins were ranked No. 2. Their chief adversaries came in at
No. 1 for Stanford, No. 3 for USC and No. 4 for Cal.

Since their records determine the second team to be named to the
NCAA tournament, every game can affect the Bruins’ shot at
the first-ever NCAA title for women’s water polo.

This weekend’s games are no exception. “It’s
gonna be a dogfight for the rest of the year,” Krikorian
said.