Non-Revenue Roundup: Water Polo Slaughters Competition, Women's Golf Comes Up Short, Women's Soccer Sweeps in Arizona

The focus (and ire) of the wider Bruin Nation has been on Rick Neuheisel and the struggling football program, which is displaying the symptoms of being mired in the diseased culture of mediocrity perpetuated by Dan Guerrero and his unimaginative hacks at Morgan Center.

Of course, while Dan Guerrero has mismanaged our football program with two under-performing hires (under-performing being the understatement of the decade . . . decade of irrelevance for UCLA football), our non-revenue programs have also been on the downward slide.  Naturally, given how strong each program does each year, it's hard to notice, but as we discussed over the summer, the numbers don't lie: UCLA is sliding into athletic obscurity on Dan Guerrero's watch and our non-revenue programs have been winning, not because of, but rather, in spite of Dan Guerrero's "leadership" in Westwood.

The answer is clear: Dan Guerrero must be fired or resign immediately.

And with that, let's take a look at how our non-revenue programs fared this past week:

• Let's start the round-up with the latest program to get its season underway: women's swimming and diving opened up their season against UC Santa Barbara, dropping the Lady Gauchos 168-130, picking up their 28th victory over UCSB.  The Bruins were led by a pair of double-win performance by sophomore swimmer Cynthia Fascella and sophomore diver Paulina Guzman.
• Turning to the #3-ranked men's golf team, the return of Patrick Cantlay to the line-up hasn't helped the Bruins turn around their early season struggles, as the men found themselves tied for sixth after the first round of the U.S. Collegiate Championship in Georgia.  While the second round wrapped up today, the Bruins will have tomorrow to try to close the deal and pick up the first big team win of the season.
• After a shake-up at the top of the rankings, the brand-new #1-ranked men's water polo team won their first match as the top dog in style, slaughtering Whitter College 20-0, with Aimone Barabino, Alex Johnson, Bret Lathrope all bagging hat tricks, while Josh Samuels and Griffin White each netted a brace.  The men followed their big win by taking on Pomona-Pitzer, taking them down 14-4 in their second match of the day, with Josh Samuels leading the line with a hat trick (bringing his total to 5 on the day).  With the weekend's action behind them, the men improve to 15-3 on the season.

• The other top-ranked UCLA squad, the women's golf team, didn't fare as well this weekend, finishing second at the SEC/Pac-12 Challenge in Knoxville, Tennessee. The women couldn't keep their perfect season alive, coming four shots short of winners Alabama.  The Lady Bruins started strong, leading by three shots on Saturday, but faltering down the stretch on Sunday, unable to hold off the Crimson Tide.
• Despite building momentum the last few weeks, Jorge Salcedo's #7-ranked men's soccer side choked against an average Cal State Northridge Matadors, 3-2.  Despite leading at the half 2-1 due to a Chandler Hoffman brace, the Bruins defense gave it away in the dying minutes, allowing the Matadors to equalize in the 82nd minute and snatch a win at Drake Stadium in the 86th minute.  The squad falls to 10-4-1 on the season as a result.
• Fortunately, the #3-ranked women's soccer team didn't have the same problems this weekend, sweeping the Arizona schools over the weekend.  Opening against the Arizona Wildcats on Friday, the Bruins pulled a reverse Rick Neuheisel, romping all over the Mildcats, 6-1.  The Bruins blitzed Arizona early, putting four in the net within the first 21 minutes of the game, and six total by the end of 90 minutes. Senior sensation Sydney Leroux led the line, netting a hat trick to lead all scorers.  The beatdown (a total of 24 UCLA shots to Arizona's 2) allowed B.J. Snow to empty his bench, letting 22 Bruins see action. 
• The women got back in action on Sunday against Arizona State, dropping the Lady Sun Devils by the score of 2-0, again dominating play (out-shooting ASU 18-9), and improving their record to 12-1-3 overall and 5-1-2 in Pac-12 play.  Also, the women wore special pink and white uniforms to support breast cancer awareness, which you can bid on here.
• Like their counterparts on the soccer pitch, the #6-ranked women's volleyball team also donned special pink breast cancer awareness uniforms this weekend (which you can bid on here).  The Lady Bruins got their weekend started by beating new conference foe Colorado in four sets, taking home a 3-1 victory.  Junior Rachael Kidder notched her fifth double-double of the season, leading the women to a hard-fought win.  Following their victory over Colorado, the women welcomed Utah to the Pac-12 by sweeping the Utes 3-0, with Rachael Kidder again leading the Lady Bruins with 23 kills, missing out on her sixth double-double by only one dig.  The Lady Bruins improve to 18-3 on the season and 11-2 in Pac-12 play.
  

Good weekend for a handful of Bruin squads, highlighting what a winning program looks like in UCLA blue-and-gold, although big wins picked up despite Dan Guerrero's Reign of Error.

Fire away with your non-revenue thoughts, comments, and takes in the thread.

GO BRUINS