Joey Niz went nearly six quarters without allowing a goal from the run of play for the Bruins this weekend.

The junior goalkeeper assumed the starting role with usual starter junior Lauren Steele out for the weekend, leading the Bruins to three more wins.

No. 2 UCLA women’s water polo (15-2, 3-1 MPSF) took down a conference opponent and two additional teams across four days at Spieker Aquatics Center, with a 12-4 win over No. 14 Princeton (18-5, 3-1 CWPA), a 19-5 win over No. 18 San Jose State (6-14, 0-5 MPSF) and a 14-8 win over No. 12 Fresno State (11-9, 2-1 GCC) to close out the weekend.

The Bruins faced the Tigers to kick off their three-game slate Thursday. After a 1-3 first quarter, where the Westwood bunch scored first before allowing three unanswered, UCLA did not allow a single second-half goal.

“We had blocks in front of shooters, so we were able to help Joey, especially, to take our angles and funnel the ball to her,” said interim co-head coach Jason Falitz.

And Niz continued to anchor the net Saturday, allowing just two goals from five-meter penalty shots in the first three quarters before senior Izzy Rosensitto took over in the net for the final eight minutes.

Niz carried her scoreless streak into the first quarter against Fresno State, only allowing a goal from the run of play as the first quarter wound down. Niz played 47 minutes without allowing a goal from the run of play as she made 13 saves, and the Bruins’ defense stood strong in front of her.

Redshirt senior attacker Emma Lineback said having two high-caliber goaltenders in Niz and Steele also contributes to their offense.

“It’s really awesome to know that we have two of the best goalies in the country on our team, and we’re so lucky to get to practice against them every day,” Lineback said. “That’s part of why we’re having such offensive success, is because of what we do in training every day, and who we are to each other in training. It makes it really difficult.”

Lineback had a three-hat-trick weekend – her first three of the season. She said her teammates’ passing sets her up for clear shot opportunities.

Senior utility Genoa Rossi added to the Bruins’ defensive effort over the weekend, serving as a vocal leader at center defense for the Bruins.

“Pressing is my favorite defense of all time because that’s a way to really kill a team’s morale,” Rossi said. “Tracking the ball is the first thing I always look for, and then where I can get my help from. So as soon as something goes wrong – which it inevitably does – I’m looking to call whoever I can back to come help me. … And if I’m unable to do that, I just scream for my life and hope I get some teammates back, and then we can slowly move out again and start re-pressing.”

Joining Lineback with a high-scoring weekend, senior center Bia Mantellato had seven goals and senior utility Anna Pearson had eight, including a four-goal performance against the Bulldogs on Sunday.

Falitz said he liked the team’s response – both in training and over the weekend – to losing a tight game to No. 1 Stanford the weekend prior. Falitz also acknowledged the student-athletes’ work amid finals.

“Coming off that tough loss against Stanford, I thought the whole week of training and through this weekend was overall really positive,” Falitz said. “They came back and could have felt sorry for themselves after last weekend, and they didn’t. I think they realized how much better we need to get, and they embraced that during the week. … There’s a lot going on for the student athletes here this week, on top of having to prepare for three different opponents.”

The Bruins have just four games left before the MPSF tournament, with No. 12 Harvard next Saturday.