Women's water polo looks to improve offense for UC Irvine Invitational
Senior goalkeeper Caitlin Dement recorded a season-high of 12 saves in UCLA’s win over San Diego State on Saturday.
By Allison Collins
Feb. 23, 2012 8:01 a.m.
The UCLA women’s water polo team looks to continue its momentum after defeating No. 9 San Diego State, as it heads into this weekend’s UC Irvine Invitational.
Despite playing well offensively throughout the beginning of the season, the Bruins want to continue to improve their scoring efficiency.
A key part of UCLA’s offensive game is its six-on-five conversions. In the home opener against Cal Baptist, the Bruins managed to convert only a few of those opportunities into points.
However, in the game against San Diego State, the Bruins showed improvement, scoring in six-on-five situations.
“We have done a better job these last few weeks. We are finding the open person better, which is the key in these situations,” coach Brandon Brooks said.
The intensity of the game against San Diego State is only a preview of what the rest of the season will look like as the players move into conference play, where 10 out of 16 teams are in the top-10.
Two-meter position
A big part of the UCLA offense is trying to be established, as the team continues to work on the two-meter position.
The ability to establish position in this area and get players close to the goal will allow the team to be more effective on offense in games, especially against tougher opponents.
“We are doing a good job of establishing position at two meters,” said sophomore utility Becca Dorst.
“We still need a lot of work on stepping out and moving to the ball and shooting quick shots. If we do this we will be more effective.”
As seen in the game against San Diego State, the team is starting to get more comfortable with setting up a two-meter position as an added part of its offense.
“We just need to get comfortable with our two-meters. We need to trust each other and the timing a little bit more,” senior utility KK Clark said.
“We need to watch the time a little more carefully. We have good two-meters so we need to give them the opportunity to perform in that position.”
Getting Physical
As conference play is now underway, the Bruins look to begin playing in games that are quicker, involve more contact and have the potential for more fouls.
The team will have to be able to read each game differently and adapt quickly in order to stay on task.
“At this level, the games are more intense and full of emotion,” senior attacker Sarah Orozco said.
“You have to learn to adapt to the way the girls are playing and the way the refs are making calls.”
Fellow teammate Clark agreed.
“Every game is different. You have to get good at adapting to different situations and we do a good job at that,” she said.
“As long as we continue to be adaptable we will be successful.”
