Bruin Bites: UCLA Women's Teams Have Solid Week

---#2 Women's Water Polo had one match this week, and came away with a relatively close 8-5 win at home over #5 UC Irvine. The Bruins jumped out to a comfortable 4-0 half time lead, saw the margin reduced to three at 5-2 after three periods, increased the margin to five at 7-2 in the fourth quarter and wound up winning by three. Sophomore attacker Rachel Fattal scored four goals to lead the Bruins, and now has 15 goals in 11 matches, second behind senior attacker Emily Donohoe's 20 goals. Next up for the Bruins is the UC Irvine Invitational next Saturday and Sunday. #1 ranked Stanford will also be in Irvine, so another match up is likely. Here is the official recap of the win over Irvine.

---#4 Women's Tennis bounced back from their loss in the National Indoors with an easy win at home over #17 TCU. Both teams came into the match with injury issues, but TCU's were more severe as they had to forfeit the #3 doubles due to a lack of players. That meant that the Bruins only needed to win one doubles match to clinch the point, which they did when Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips won their #1 doubles match 6-3.

Junior Kyle McPhillips moved up to #2 singles and won her match when her TCU opponent retired down 3-1 in the first set. Freshman Terri Fleming moved up to #5 singles and won 7-6, 6-1 to give the Bruins a 3-0 lead. TCU got their first and only point in the match at #6 singles, as sophomore Kelly Shaffer lost in straight sets. But senior Chanelle Van Nguyen, playing #1 singles in the absence of Robin Anderson, closed out the match with a 6-4, 6-0 victory. Next up for the Bruins is a trip to Northern California, with matches at St. Mary's on Friday and UC Berkeley (non conference) on Saturday.

----Women's Golf saw team ace Alison Lee pick up her LPGA qualifying card, and leave for the pro circuit. This was the first chance to see how the team would adjust. In a 16 team field at Palos Verdes GC, the Bruins finished tied for 4th, with a great final round. Hopefully, they can use that as momentum going forward. Sophomore Bronte Law won the individual title by two strokes to lead the Bruins. Law recorded the only rounds under par for UCLA the first two days, but teammates senior Erynne Lee and freshman Lydia Choi contributed solid rounds under par on the final day to lead the Bruin charge. UCLA's day three score of 281 was the best on the day by seven strokes, and tied tournament winner Baylor's opening round as the best score by any team during the three day tourney. They Bruins travel to New Orleans for a three day tournament, starting this Sunday.

--- And last, but certainly, not least, Ally Carda threw a no-hitter on Sunday, as UCLA Softball swept five games at a tournament in Las Vegas. Carda beat Boise State 6-0, tossing in 11 K's for good measure. With the softball mercy rule, seven inning no-hitters are relatively rare, so her feat is all the more special. The UCLA website has the following quote, which attempts to provide some historical context while conducting an all-out assault on the English language-

The third straight season the Bruins have tossed one, Carda is the first UCLA hurler to toss a seven-inning no-hitter since 2005 (Anjelica Selden).

I am not clear what "one" is. Hopefully it is not Carda, although she is the most logical candidate in this sentence. It can't be a seven inning no-hitter, since that had not been accomplished since 2005, which even in Guerrero's world would not qualify as three straight seasons. Perhaps "one" refers to UCLA hurlers in general. Only Guerrero and his minions know for sure. In any event, congratulations Ally. You turned Boise State into a unit which has much in common with Morgan Center- hitless wonders both.

That is it for this week's edition.

Go Bruins !!