The Road to 200: Women's Water Polo Edition

by Menelaus on May 9, 2008 1:24 PM PDT in Other Sports

100 down. So, why not 100 more to go?

Okay, okay, no one's getting crazy here, but it's nice to be looking forward. And it's hard not to think about national championships when the subject turns to the Bruins woman's water polo team, our very own dynasty of the water world.

A year ago next week, the lady Bruins brought us No. 100.

Now, the Bruins, led by Cutino Award finalists Courtney Matthewson and Jillian Kraus, and winners of three consecutive NCAA championships in 2005, 2006 and 2007, look to make it four in a row by capturing their 10th national title overall.

By the way, these kinds of stats are just ridiculous:

LOOKING FOR A FOUR-PEAT: The three-time defending NCAA Champion Bruins are seeking an unprecedented four-peat and their 10th national women's water polo title. Since the first NCAA Championship in 2001, UCLA has won five of the seven titles (2001, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007), with only Stanford in 2002 and USC in 2004 being able to break the stranglehold UCLA has on the NCAA trophy. Prior to women's water polo becoming an NCAA-sanctioned championship, UCLA won national titles in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2000.

And the lady Bruins have it rolling again this year, riding a perfect 30-0 record after capturing their second-straight MPSF Championship after just another win against USC (their 3rd of the season).

Senior Jillian Kraus; Photo by Kyle Lishok

For those of you who haven't been following our lady Bruins, here's a tournament preview of UCLA by the Bootleg:

About the Bruins: UCLA has put together an amazing season this year, after winning national championships each of the last three years. They look to become the first team to go undefeated since 2005. Coach Adam Krikorian, in his tenth year, brings a veteran team led by junior Katie Rulon with 58 goals, senior Jillian Kraus with 54 goals, senior Courtney Mathewson with 50 goals, senior Brittany Rowe with 48 goals, and junior Tanya Gandy with 42 goals. Mathewson and Kraus shared MPSF Player of the Year honors, and junior goalkeeper Brittany Fullen sports a 4.77 GAA. The Bruins have shown chinks in their armor -- winning by just one goal three times, including an overtime victory over Stanford in the UC-Irvine Invitational.

How they got here: UCLA beat USC 8-7 in the MPSF Tournament finals to earn the automatic bid. They are undefeated and were the obvious choice for the top overall seed.

Outlook in the tournament: The Bruins will have the easiest trip to the championship game. After a warmup against Pomona-Pitzer on Friday, they should have little trouble with the winner of the San Diego-UC Davis game. They can thus put all of their energy into preparing for either Stanford or USC, which have each almost beat UCLA this season. In the end though, UCLA’s combination of toughness, all-around offensive capabilities, and veteran leaders may be too much for any team to solve.

This year's NCAA Tournament begins today with a 5:00 p.m. matchup against Pomona-Pitzer (17-11) at Avery Aquatic Center at Stanford (the No. 2 seed). The Sagehens, the only Division III team in the tournament, will have their hands full with the Bruins.

Pomona-Pitzer earned the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s automatic bid to Palo Alto last weekend with an 8-7 win over Cal Lutheran in its conference’s tournament final. Despite going 8-1 in their conference regular season, the Sagehens were 0-2 against teams in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, the conference that has brought UCLA and three other at-large teams to the NCAA title table.

The game today will be broadcast live on www.uclabruins.com. And, should the Bruins advance, here is the schedule for the rest of the weekend:

On Friday, May 9 at 5 pm, UCLA will broadcasting live the 5 pm quarterfinal match between the top-seeded Bruins and eighth-seeded Pomona-Pitzer. Should UCLA win, the match on Saturday, May 10 between UCLA and either San Diego State or UC Davis will be broadcast live at 4 pm. The second semi-final, which is expected to be between #2 seed Stanford and #3 seed USC, will also be broadcast live at 5:45 pm. Should UCLA reach the championship match, it will be broadcast live at 6 pm on Sunday, May 11.

This should be an interesting weekend. Good luck ladies,

GO BRUINS.

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Comments

This Is Truly A Dynasty

Thank you, Nestor.

Good Luck, Lady Bruins…Do Your Thing!!

Love My Bruins

by Bruingirl83 on May 9, 2008 2:41 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

Actually that wasn't me

That was Menelaus who put up that great post.

But GO BRUINS.

by Nestor on May 9, 2008 3:01 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

Great Post

Should be a great weekend. Hopefully the lady Bruins stay poised and crush Pomona-Pitzer tonight!

by BruinFanBaby on May 9, 2008 3:16 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

Hey BFB

If you like a post … one thing you can always do is hit the “recommend” button to show your appreciation for it. Thanks!

by Nestor on May 9, 2008 3:19 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

If they make it to championship game ...

It will be televised on the CBS College Sports Network (formerly called CSTV).

Off-topic, I like the new look, and think most people will once they get used to it.

by gilbert on May 9, 2008 3:35 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

Tennis teams in the playoffs too this weekend

Women’s water polo isn’t the only team competing in the postseason this weekend. Women’s tennis and men’s tennis have their regionals (the women are playing their first round right now, the men start tomorrow).

If you’re interested, you can get live stats at this link. As I type this, the UCLA women are leading Buffalo 3-0, and four points is all you need to win the match.

by gilbert on May 9, 2008 3:40 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

Women's tennis wins 4-0

They advance to the second round to face Denver tomorrow (at UCLA). The winner of that goes to the Round of 16 next week.

by gilbert on May 9, 2008 3:46 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

I don't mean to discriminate

But, as a former water whack myself, I must admit the bias. My tennis skills, on the other hand, have only momentarily peaked above embarrassing.

by Menelaus on May 9, 2008 5:08 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

No worries

That wasn’t meant as a complaint for no coverage. You and the other frontpagers do a very good job.

Just pointing out the info for those were interested.

by gilbert on May 9, 2008 5:10 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

I didn't take it that way

by Menelaus on May 9, 2008 5:20 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

It bears repeating

I believe Coach Krikorian has a very good chance to be one of the greats. Coach Wooden and Coach Scates may have to make some room in the pantheon.

by Tydides on May 9, 2008 4:43 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

Absolutely

Also from one of the articles on the official site linked to above:

AT THE HELM: In his 10th season as head coach of the women’s water polo team, Adam Krikorian has tallied an impressive 259-38 career record. Krikorian has guided the women’s water polo program to six national titles (five NCAA). He also serves as the UCLA men’s water polo head coach, having led that program to three NCAA titles in nine years. Krikorian played water polo at UCLA, leading the 1995 men’s water polo team to its first NCAA title since 1972. He has won a total of 13 national championships – nine as a head coach, three as an assistant coach and one as a student-athlete.

by Menelaus on May 9, 2008 5:03 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

Halftime

UCLA 11, Pomona 4 at halftime.

by gilbert on May 9, 2008 5:32 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

Final score: UCLA 19, Pomona 6

The Bruins play San Diego State or UC Davis tomorrow at 4 p.m in the NCAA Semifinals.

by gilbert on May 9, 2008 6:09 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

It'll be UC Davis

who defeated SDSU 5-4.

by ryebreadraz on May 9, 2008 10:07 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

An important stop on the road to 200

I thought about this a while ago, and I think the year we make it to 150 national championships is going to be as big, or possibly bigger, than 200. And trust me, this isn’t because I hope that Stanford (on a pace to pass us at some point, from what I’ve been told by a disgruntled Cal alum) does it between the 150 and 200 post mark.

Given all the marketing around changing the color of the “C” in this year’s jerseys and on the Rose Bowl field and other places I’m sure I’m just not remembering right now, I can’t help but notice the next letter in UCLA. I don’t foresee us changing our name to UCCLA when we get to 200 championships, but I have a feeling they’ll be selling another jersey and repainting the field in a few years…

I know this is way down in this comment thread, and I should just be celebrating today’s victory and looking forward to tomorrow’s game against UC Davis, but I couldn’t think of another place to add it in, and I’m not sure it deserves its own diary… er, FanPost.

by antipimp on May 9, 2008 11:24 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs