Women’s water polo looks to Michigan Invitational after successful opening weekend

The Bruins’ conference opener will be their first of four out-of-state contests this weekend.

No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo (5-0) will travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Michigan Invitational, where it will face Mountain Pacific Sports Federation foe No. 10 Indiana (4-0) and Salem on Saturday before concluding the weekend with Long Island University and No. 6 Michigan (3-1) on Sunday.

With a roster composed solely of California-raised players, coach Adam Wright said it was critical his team compete in Canham Natatorium, as many of the underclassmen on the team have neither been to the location nor played indoors before.

“Michigan’s an incredible place, they’ve got a great program,” Wright said, “It’s a fun atmosphere this year for us too, (since) NCAAs are going to be out here, so we thought it was important to get out here.”

After competing in her first collegiate competition last weekend, freshman attacker Molly Renner said water polo has become more than a pastime hobby since coming to Westwood.

“In college, you really have to study the game,” Renner said. “The game is one of our classes. I kind of have that mentality, like I go home and study the packet for the next day.”

While the Bruins swept their first five games, the Hoosiers also remained undefeated through four games at the UC Santa Barbara Invitational. Michigan dropped its season opener to No. 4 California before winning its next three at the ASU Cross Conference Challenge.

Wright said the clash between undefeated intraconference programs and a short turnaround before facing the Wolverines will give his team the competition it craves.

“The reality is, those games are important,” Wright said. “We want to be pushed and we want to be in different situations and see how the girls respond.”

UCLA’s contests against LIU and Salem will mark the first in program history. The Sharks’ first official season was in 2020, while the Tigers began the year prior in 2019.

Renner said despite a successful season start, the Bruins still have room to improve.

“We can improve on communicating, getting down the pool and setting up in a good structure to enable a good setup and get a shot on the cage every single time we go down the pool,” Renner said. “On the defensive end, probably just being aware of what’s behind us and communicating, listening to the center. And good drive defense.”

Freshman attacker Emma Lineback – the team leader in assists through one weekend of play – said she is focused on limiting her exclusions after earning four last weekend.

“I got ejected a couple times away from the ball, and that’s something I’m going to really try to hold myself to a higher standard in these next four games,” Lineback said. “If I’m taking an exclusion, that’s because I need to take an exclusion to prevent a goal.”

Redshirt senior attacker Maddie Musselman was named MPSF/KAP7 Player of the Week for the fourth time in her career after returning from a two-year Olympic hiatus. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics MVP scored a team-high 14 goals on 70% shooting while also registering a team-high 10 steals in UCLA’s opening weekend of play.

The Bruins will also welcome All-MPSF First Team junior utility Abbi Hill and All-MPSF First Team junior attacker Hannah Palmer back this weekend after both missed the season-opening tournament.

Lineback said this weekend will give her team a chance to grow from the mistakes it made last week.

“I’m really looking forward to the next four games,” Lineback said. “Santa Barbara gave us a really nice starting point of where we are now, but also gave us clarity as to things that we can work on to be what we want to be this year.”