Women’s water polo never trails in victory over UC Irvine

After a first-quarter shootout, the Bruins reverted back to “UCLA water polo,” according to coach Adam Wright.

No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo (2-0) never trailed against No. 5 UC Irvine (4-2), finishing the opening stanza leading 5-4 before cruising to a 13-9 victory. It was the Bruins’ second nonconference game after their original weekend matchup with conference foe No. 13 Indiana was rescheduled for April.

Entering the game with a 19-10 win over No. 11 Fresno State, junior attacker Val Ayala – who scored the first goal of the match – said the team came in with momentum.

“We were super fired up coming into this game – we’ve been preparing for the past few days, and we were just feeling really good, high energy, super excited to come out,” Ayala said. “We came out hard, as the score showed.”

While the win improved UCLA’s all-time record against UC Irvine to 30-0, Wright said his team didn’t play to his expectations in the first quarter despite opening the game 5-of-5 from the pool.

“The conversation after the first quarter is, you know, we’re not a team that likes to play a game where we just exchange goals back and forth,” Wright said. “We challenged the team after the first quarter because the last thing we want to do is get into an all-out shootout for four quarters because you never know what can happen at that point. And they responded well.”

The Bruins would go on to finish shooting 13-of-30 while holding the Anteaters to 9-of-34. UCLA was perfect on penalty shots, going 2-of-2, and didn’t allow UC Irvine the opportunity to take any.

Ayala finished 1-of-6 after scoring less than 20 seconds into the game, but added an assist in the third period and matched up with her older sister, Danielle, who went 2-of-7 from the pool for the Anteaters. She said the game meant a little bit more to her with her sister on the other team.

“It’s really special – growing up, we played together all the time, we were always on the same team, because we’re only less than two years apart,” Ayala said. “So not playing with her ever since I’ve gone to college has been kind of a bummer. But it’s always a good time to play against her and her team is great competition.”

Sophomore utility Abbi Hill led the Bruins in scoring with five goals on eight shots, scoring at least once in every quarter while adding an assist and a drawn exclusion. After six hat tricks in her first collegiate season, Hill has opened the 2021 season with back-to-back performances at or above three goals.

Tied second on the team in goals in the game was freshman attacker Malia Allen, who netted two shots and said college water polo has been everything she dreamed of.

“It’s just honestly, this might sound so cliche, but just like a dream come true moment,” Allen said. “I’ve wanted to come to this school since I was a freshman in high school. Just being able to play with these girls and being able to be in these games – it’s a surreal moment playing against other college teams and being able to be successful.”

Wright said Allen has the potential to be a special player with improved defense and more experience given her desire to improve.

“She’s an absolute student of the game, she sees the game really well, she can make great passes and obviously she can shoot too,” Wright said. “As long as we can keep shoring up the defensive end, she’s going to be a really impactful player.”

Freshman attacker Anneliese Miller netted the first goal of her career, joining freshman attacker Cassidy Miller – the MPSF/KAP7 Newcomer of the Week after a five-goal performance in the Bruins’ opening game – and Allen as the three newcomers to score this season on a team that only lost one player from a season ago.

Winning two of three of the quarter-opening sprints, senior attacker Lexi Liebowitz also added two goals for the Bruins.

Senior goalkeeper Jahmea Bent got the start in the cage for UCLA, playing all but the final two minutes. While Bent allowed four goals in the opening period, she allowed only three the rest of the way and added a season-high 13 saves. Freshman goalkeeper Sydney Chiang played the final minutes of the match, allowing two goals.

“This team is filled with such amazing girls and talented dedicated players that will do anything to win the national championship, and I think that kind of attitude will get us what we want and what we deserve at the end of the day,” Allen said.

UCLA will have two weeks off before returning to action in its home opener against conference rival No. 8 California on March 13 and 14 starting at 11 a.m. on both days.