Women's Water Polo Weekly Release
March 10, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
UCLA (20-0 overall, 6-0 MPSF) picked up two more MPSF wins to stay unbeaten, 9-7 over No. 2 Stanford and 15-5 over No. 8 San Jose State at home this past weekend. In the battle between the nation's top-two, senior Brittany Rowe nailed a first half hat trick, and the Bruins won the fourth quarter 2-1 en route to the tight win. Sunday against the Spartans, UCLA dominated the second quarter 6-1 to open up the game. Senior Jillian Kraus put away three goals. Junior Brittany Fullen totaled 18 saves on the weekend. Friday (Mar. 14) features the crosstown showdown between two undefeated MPSF teams, while the No. 1 Bruins own a 28-game overall win streak entering USC. In a Feb. 10 meeting for the Stanford Invitational Title, UCLA came out on top, 8-4.
USC (12-4 overall, 5-0 MPSF) is also riding a heavy win streak heading into Friday's game with UCLA. In addition to being 5-0 in the conference, the Trojans have won 42 straight home games. USC won two MPSF games in Northern California last week, 8-7 at No. 3 California and 18-4 at Pacific. Junior Michelle Stein posted a hat trick in Berkeley, while sophomore goalkeeper Tumua Anae registered 12 saves. Stein came back the next day with four goals against the Tigers. Sophomore Forel Davies added a hat trick.
STANFORD won three of four on the road, defeating No. 17 UC Santa Barbara (14-2) in conference play, Claremont-Mudd (15-4), and Pomona-Pitzer (11-3). The Cardinal took an 8-0 lead into halftime in SB. Junior Lauren Silver knocked in a season-high five goals. Junior Kira Hillman added three. Freshman Chelsea Smith-Carmichael tallied four goals in the two wins Sunday. Stanford is now off for two weeks.
SAN DIEGO STATE improved to 16-2 overall with close wins over No. 9 UC Irvine (6-5) and No. 17 UC Santa Barbara (10-8). Juniors Jenna Shuster and Anna Gonzales each tallied hat tricks in Irvine, while senior Heather Fenske notched 11 saves. Sunday, junior Erinn Greenwood scored four goals to lead another win. The Aztecs are loaded with games this week, hosting Pacific Fri. (Mar. 14), Long Beach State and Colorado State Sat. (Mar. 15), and Princeton and CS Bakersfield Sunday (Mar. 16).
UC IRVINE was involved in a pair of one-goal outcomes at home, edged by No. 6 San Diego State 6-5 before getting by No. 8 Arizona State 10-9 in four overtimes. The Anteaters erased a 5-2 halftime deficit with a 3-0 third quarter against ASU. Sophomore Kat Plummer and junior Sarah Frost each scored a hat trick, with Frost's sudden-victory game-winner coming at the 1:27 mark of the fourth OT. Senior Lauren Machanis stopped 12 shots. Indiana visits UCI Thursday (Mar. 13).
ARIZONA STATEB senior goalkeeper Caylinn Wallace recorded 15 saves in each game over the weekend, as the Sun Devils fell 10-9 in four overtimes at No. 9 UC Irvine before topping No. 13 Long Beach State 9-6. Junior Addison McGrath put away four goals in the win and two in the loss. California comes to Tempe Saturday (Mar. 15) as MPSF action continues.
LONG BEACH STATE split a pair of conference games, winning 7-5 at No. 14 CS Northridge and losing 9-6 at home to No. 8 Arizona State. The 49ers scored three unanswered goals in the fourth quarter to get past the Matadors. Freshman Kelsie Emerick scored both her goals in that run. Long Beach State heads to San Diego State Saturday (Mar. 15) to play the Aztecs in a conference game as well as Colorado State later that day.
SAN JOSE STATE split on the road with a 6-5 win at No. 17 UC Santa Barbara and 15-5 loss at top-ranked UCLA. Senior Beth Harberts scored a game-high three goals vs. the Gauchos and added two against the Bruins. Senior Kendra Adama combined for 17 saves in two games. UC Davis visits Saturday (Mar. 15) in non-conference play.
CALIFORNIA dropped a tough 8-7 conference home game to No. 4 USC Saturday. Sophomore Grace Reynolds had a team-high two goals and senior Heather Stuart had eight saves in the cage. The Bears travel to Arizona State Saturday (Mar. 15).
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE came up short to No. 13 Long Beach State at home, 7-5. The Matadors play five games this week, hosting Indiana and Occidental Tuesday (Mar. 11), Bucknell Wednesday (Mar. 12), followed by a trip to Hawaii Sunday (Mar. 16) to take on the Rainbow Wahine and Cal Baptist.
UC SANTA BARBARA dropped three conference games, 14-2 to No. 2 Stanford, 6-5 to No. 10 San Jose State, and 10-8 at No. 6 San Diego State. Sophomore Christie Clark scored four goals vs. SDSU. A visit to Hawaii is next on Saturday (Mar. 15).
PACIFIC fell 18-4 to No. 4 USC in Stockton Sunday. The Tigers play five games in San Diego this weekend (Mar. 14-16), taking on San Diego State, Princeton, UC San Diego, CS Bakersfield, and Colorado State. SDSU is an MPSF contest Friday.
HAWAII opens a seven-game homestand Saturday (Mar. 15) against UCSB and Cal Baptist, followed by CSUN (Mar. 16).
ROWE AND STEIN NAMED MPSF MIKASA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Woodland, Calif. - UCLA senior Brittany Rowe (San Diego, CA/University City HS) scored three goals against No. 2 Stanford and added two the next day vs. No. 10 San Jose State. The top-ranked and undefeated Bruins defeated the Cardinal 9-7 and the Spartans 15-5. Rowe has now scored at least once in each of the last 11 games, and becomes the fourth different Bruin to earn this award in 2008.....USC junior Michelle Stein (Palm Desert, CA/Palm Desert HS) had a game-high three goals in an 8-7 win at No. 3 California Saturday, followed by another game-high of four goals in an 18-4 win at Pacific Sunday. This is her second conference honor this year.....NOTE: Brittany Rowe and Michelle Stein will meet this Friday (Mar. 14) as UCLA visits USC in a contest featuring two unbeaten teams in the MPSF.