Women’s water polo wins four consecutive games in one weekend

The Bruins had four chances to register a win this weekend, and they capitalized on all four.

No. 5 UCLA women’s water polo (8-1) picked up four top-25 wins this weekend at the Michigan Invitational in Ann Arbor, Michigan. On Saturday, UCLA defeated No. 11 Pacific (2-3) 14-7 and later conquered No. 7 Michigan (5-3) 12-4. UCLA went on to beat No. 24 Marist (0-7) 14-4 and defeated No. 21 Wagner (1-3) 16-6 just over four hours later Sunday.

The Bruins’ average margin of victory was 8.75 goals and they shot an average of .429 over the course of the invitational. The Bruins trailed once all weekend, facing an early one-goal deficit against Wagner before coming back to win by 10.

Coach Adam Wright said the team isn’t perfect, but the Bruins’ attack near the goal was much improved from the UCSB Winter Invitational.

“The reality is we’re not going to be perfect,” Wright said. “We’re not going to make every shot, but how we choose to approach those shots is really important. How we approached the goal this week was completely different than last weekend.”

Freshman utility Abbi Hill led UCLA in scoring with 15 goals through the four games – good for an average of 3.75 per game. Senior attacker Emily Skelly and sophomore attacker Val Ayala tied for second in scoring on the team with five goals apiece.

Hill scored a career-high seven goals against Wagner and said that she has recently been working on her aggression and using that to put up smart shots.

“I was just being aggressive,” Hill said. “It’s about knowing when to put my shots away, and just not forcing anything that is not open. I’m just playing with the offense and taking the shots that come.”

Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Georgia Phillips played the entire game against the Wolverines, racking up nine saves and allowing four goals. Additionally, Phillips played three quarters against Wagner, tallying 11 saves while allowing six goals.

Junior goalkeeper Jahmea Bent started the tournament opener against Pacific, but was replaced by freshman goalkeeper Quinn Winter after halftime. The two played in the same order against Marist as well. Bent replaced Phillips in the final quarter of the weekend against Wagner.

The Bruins’ opponents shot no better than .250 in the four games, putting up an average of .200.

Freshman attacker Hannah Palmer, who led the team with six steals this weekend, attributed the team’s defensive performance to crashing center pool when the opposing team tried to move the ball inside.

“We weren’t letting easy passes,” Palmer said. “We were doing really well at crashing into center when the ball got there.”

Wright said the team maximized on its opportunities this weekend, and, going forward, growth will ultimately come from continuing to be consistent.

“The biggest thing is we want to keep maximizing our opportunities, and we did that this weekend,” Wright said. “If we want to grow into the team we can ultimately become, then we have to maximize the opportunities that we have together, and we did a really good job of that this weekend.”

The Bruins open their home schedule hosting conference opponent San Jose State at 6 p.m. on Friday.