LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The second-ranked UCLA women's water polo team hosts the USA Water Polo Senior Women's National Team on Saturday at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center at 2 p.m. The matchup will be the Bruins' biggest challenge of the season so far, as the squad coasted to a 4-0 record at the UCSB Invitational last weekend.
Despite the Bruins' loss of top attackers Rachel Fattal, Kodi Hill, and Alys Williams to the U.S. National Team this season to train for the 2016 Olympics, UCLA still has fire power in its lineup.
In four games, nine different Bruins have found the back of the net. Mackenzie Barr leads the team with eight goals, which includes a team-high four goals against Long Beach State. India Forster and Devin Grab have tallied seven goals apiece, while Grace Reego and Alexa Tielmann both have five.
In the cage, senior Alex Musselman and freshman Carlee Kapana have split time, each playing two games. Musselman recorded 10 saves and a 5.5 goals against average against No. 7 Hawai'i and No. 17 LBSU. In her collegiate debut, Kapana totaled 27 saves and allowed just 12 goals (.692 save percentage) against No. 12 Michigan and No. 14 UCSB. The newcomer posted 15 saves against the Gauchos and was five-for-six on stops when facing the power play. Her standout performance at the UCSB Invitational earned her MPSF/Kap7 Newcomer of the Week honors (Jan. 26).
Several members of the U.S. National Team will be returning home on Saturday, including head coach Adam Krikorian. Prior to being named head coach of the USA Water Polo Women's Senior National Team in March 2009, Krikorian served as head coach of the UCLA men's and women's programs for 10 years. In the spring of 2009, Krikorian capped his tenure as UCLA's head women's water polo coach by leading the Bruins to their fifth consecutive NCAA championship. In his 17 years with UCLA's water polo program as both a player and a coach, Krikorian won an unprecedented 15 national titles—11 as a head coach, three as an assistant coach, and one as a student-athlete.
The handful of Bruin alums on the National Team includes KK Clark (2012), Sami Hill (2015), and Courtney Mathewson (2008).
Following the UCLA-USA tilt, the Bruins are hosting the Third Annual Evening with UCLA Women's Water Polo—a fundraiser to support the program and the team's 2016 trip to Europe for competition. The event takes place at 7 p.m. in the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame Press Room (JD Morgan Center), and features a cocktail reception, dinner, entertainment, silent auction, and raffle.
For more information or to register for this event, please click here. If you are unable to attend but are interested in sponsorship opportunities, click here. If you have any questions about this event or about donations, please contact Rashaad Moore at 310-206-3302 or rmoore@athletics.ucla.edu.