Bruins head to Hawaii for MPSF tournament
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 26, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Natalie Golda
passes the ball over the head of an opponent in a game earlier this
year.
By Emily Whichard
Daily Bruin Contributor
They are the second-ranked team in the nation. They’ve
only lost to one team all season. Their average margin of victory
is nine points. They are the defending national champions.
Even with such stellar statistics, the No. 2 UCLA (14-3, 9-1
MPSF) women’s water polo team could still get shut out of the
NCAA tournament.
The Bruins traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii on Thursday for the
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament. In the women’s
water polo inaugural season as an NCAA sport, the MPSF Tournament
will be a battleground for national tournament bids.
The winner of the tournament will automatically receive a place
in the NCAA Tournament, to be held at Stanford May 12-13. The
second MPSF bid will go to the team with the next best record.
No. 1 Stanford enters the tournament undefeated for the season.
Therefore, win or lose, they will be defending their home turf in
two weeks.
Stanford’s shoo-in leaves the other three top teams in the
nation, each boasting an Olympian-studded line-up, to vie for the
remaining spot.
“We want to put all the number games aside and worry about
playing good water polo this weekend,” Head Coach Adam
Krikorian said. “If we play the way we are capable of, the
bid will follow.”
UCLA is slated to play the winner of the No. 6 UC Santa Barbara
versus unranked UC Irvine match-up on Friday. Barring any major
upsets, the game will be followed by a semifinal battle against No.
3 USC on Saturday.
“All of our focus in the last few weeks has been geared
towards USC’s style of play,” Krikorian said.
Krikorian and the team are keenly aware that a loss to USC will
shut them out of the NCAA tournament. After such a stellar season,
the Bruins are not ready to drop it all in one game.
“This is an intense time in the season,” said junior
Eleanor Murphy. “We’re trying not to think about the
NCAA bids. We’re going in to win the tournament.”
The other semifinal match-up will send No. 4 California up
against Stanford. These two games are where the real battles of the
season will be fought.
“The conference championship’s importance really
gets overlooked,” Krikorian said. “With such intense
competition, it’s something to really get excited
about.”
With excitement running high and a NCAA championship on the
line, the Bruins are looking to return with an MPSF title on
Sunday
“The girls are ready to show off their hard work,”
Krikorian said. “They’ve been waiting for this all
year.”
