University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA Women's Water Polo Heads to Stanford For NCAA Championships
May 7, 2001
Up Next: The No. 2 UCLA women's water polo team (16-4 overall, 9-1 MPSF) received an at-large bid to the inaugural 2001 NCAA Water Polo Championships after finishing second in the MPSF Tournament last weekend in Hawaii. The Bruins will travel up to Stanford, site of the Championship held May 12-13, to contend for their first ever NCAA Championship and fifth National Title in six years. Last year, the Bruins defeated USC, 11-4, in the National Collegiate Championship. Stanford (26-0) holds the No. 1 seed and will face Brown (21-9) in the first semifinal game. The Bruins will then play No. 3 Loyola Marymount (22-6) in the other semifinal. Here is a look at the seedings and schedule for the upcoming NCAA Tournament:
Saturday, May 12 5:30 p.m. Game 1 #1 Stanford vs. #4 Brown 7:00 p.m. Game 2 #2 UCLA vs. #3 Loyola Marymount Sunday, May 13 3:30 p.m. Third Place Game 5:00 p.m. Championship Game
NCAA Selection Process: Automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Championship come from the MPSF (Stanford), the Collegiate Water Polo Association (Brown), and the Western Water Polo Association (Loyola Marymount). The fourth team is selected at-large without geographical restrictions (UCLA).
The Opponents: UCLA leads the all time series with Loyola Marymount 2-0. The teams last met in 1999 at the UCSB Tournament, with the Bruins emerging victorious 13-3. Stanford, a conference opponent of the Bruins, trails in the all-time series record 11-10. The teams last met on in the MPSF Championship game with the Cardinal winning, 8-5. UCLA has never faced Brown before.
MPSF Tournament: At the MPSF Tournament, UCLA went 2-1, dominating UCSB, squeaking by USC in overtime, and falling to No. 1 Stanford, to claim second place. Senior Coralie Simmons and sophomore Robin Beauregard earned first-team All-Tournament honors, while sophomore Jaime Hipp earned second-team acclaim.
Bruin Notes: The women's water polo squad will attempt to capture its fifth National Title in six years and third under heah coach Adam Krikorian. UCLA won the National Collegiate Title last year and won back-to-back-to back titles in 1996, `97, and `98 ... Senior Coralie Simmons, the squad's leading scorer, has scored at least one goal in thirteen straight games. UCLA's career leader in goals scored, Simmons keeps adding to her record total, where she currently has hit the back of the net 232 times ... UCLA's average margin of victory this season is seven points. The Bruins have held their opponents to under five points a game ... Contending for the inaugural NCAA Championship in women's water polo, UCLA atheltic teams have won 85 NCAA titles, the most in the nation.