W. waterpolo: Women’s water polo to defend title

The No. 2 UCLA women’s water polo team (4-1, 1-0 MPSF)
will travel to Santa Barbara this weekend to participate in the
Gaucho Invitational. Last year, the Bruins were victorious in
the 16-team tournament, but much roster turnover in the
off-season combined with more league parody may make for a
difficult repeat.

The Bruins lost 15 players from their NCAA championship team
last season, as seven seniors, five national players training for
the Olympics and three defections all accounted for major
off-season subtractions to coach Adam Krikorian’s team. The
Bruins have only five returning players, and all players are either
sophomores or freshman. The team’s growth is vital in the
upcoming weeks.

“We have trained for two months and only have played five
games,” Krikorian said. “With such a young team, we
need game experience, and playing four games in one weekend will
help.”Â 

The young team will be led by sophomore center forward and team
captain Kristina Kunkel. She is second on the team with six goals,
and her leadership is making up for the team’s void of
juniors and seniors. 

“She has an incredible work ethic and passion for the
game,” Krikorian said.

“She is our most dynamic player and an outstanding role
model.”

Freshman driver Molly Cahill leads the Bruins with eight goals
and her passionate play has contributed to the team’s early
season success. Defensively, returning center defender Lauren
Heineck will again be relied upon.

UCLA has 34 goals in their five games, against 22 for their
opponents. Only during the USC game did an opponent score more than
five goals. Freshman goalkeeper Emily Feher has had a lot to do
with that.

“She is replacing a four-time All American in Jaime Hipp
and is the best goalkeeper in the league as a freshman.”

Like oil in organic peanut butter, the top four teams are a cut
above the rest in this weekend’s tournament. Joining UCLA in
that elite group are USC, Stanford and Long Beach State. The No. 1
Trojans have proven to be the team to beat in the young season,
handing the Bruins their only loss three weeks ago in the final of
the Stanford Invitational. The Bruins are second overall and will
play Pacific to open tournament play. They are coming off an
impressive 5-2 victory over Santa Barbara.

Even though the Bruins always have their sight set on
championships, the young age of the team means that UCLA must
concentrate on each game, one at a time.

“To win championships is our ultimate goal, but we have to
set short-term goals and improve with each game,” Krikorian
said. “Right now, we only expect to defend our
title.”