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No. 4 UCLA Opens Friday at MPSF Championships
April 25, 2018 | Women's Water Polo
The fourth-seeded UCLA women's water polo team will look to defend its title at the 2018 MPSF Women's Water Polo Championships this week, beginning with a quarterfinal contest versus five-seed Arizona State Thursday at 12:45 p.m. A win would advance the Bruins into the semifinal round and a Saturday date with top-ranked USC (12:45 p.m.). The final round will take place Sunday, with the semifinal winners set to square off at 12:45 p.m. Consolation games will take place Saturday and Sunday, with those scheduled to start at 11 a.m. MPSF Live Stream will provide coverage at http://www.mpsports.org/collegesportslive/.
SERIES HISTORY
The Bruins hold an all-time record of 22-1 versus the Sun Devils. They have won eight in row, including a pair of narrow victories this season. In the teams' first meeting of 2018 (Feb. 11), Lizette Rozeboom secured UCLA a spot in the Triton Invitational final round on a scoring strike with 10 seconds remaining. The game had been tied five times prior to the game winner. Then, in MPSF play, the Bruin defense was a force to be reckoned with, holding the Sun Devils to its season-low-tying scoring output. Bronte Halligan, Devin Grab, Maddie Musselman and Grace Reego scored four consecutive goals over 3:42 of the second quarter to make the difference.
WEEK IN REVIEW
UCLA dropped its regular-season finale to top-ranked USC, 11-5, at Uytengsu Aquatics Center (April 21). The Trojans held the Bruins scoreless in the first quarter and ended the first half with a 5-1 lead. Rozeboom and Alexis Angermund got scoring started in the third to pull the Bruins within a two-goal margin, but that would spark a four-goal spree for USC, which never looked back. Hayley McKelvey scored five goals for the Trojans, who won their 11th game in a row.
TOURNAMENT TIME
Since the tournament's inception (1996), UCLA has secured a conference-best 11 titles. Stanford has won five, California has collected four, while USC has captured a pair. Last year, the Bruins followed their regular-season championship with two wins, including a dominant performance versus second-seeded Stanford in the final round. The Bruins held the Cardinal scoreless over the game's final 20:47 and senior Rachel Fattal notched a hat trick.
I'D LIKE TO THANK...
Freshman Lexi Liebowitz earned the first weekly award of her career when she was named the MPSF Newcomer of the Week for April 10. Without scoring a goal, Liebowitz played a big role in the Bruins' rally and near upset of Stanford April 7. The freshman assisted on two goals during a 4-0 scoring run over 8:09 of gameplay and won the second-half-opening sprint to keep UCLA's momentum rolling. Liebowitz added one earned exclusion and one field block during the third stanza that saw the Bruins temporarily pull even. On the year, the lefty is among the top five Bruins in goals scored (17), assists (17), earned exclusions (19), sprints won (14), steals (11) and field blocks (11). The award marked the second weekly award of the season for a Bruin. For her efforts in the Bruins' win over UCI, Musselman was named MPSF Player of the Week for Week 6. She earned a conference record seven Newcomer of the Week awards during her freshman campaign.
HITTING TRIPLE DIGITS
Devin Grab and Lizette Rozeboom became the newest members of the program's 100-goal club with their multi-goal efforts in the Bruins' doubleheader sweep March 24. Grab hit the century mark with her hat trick against Long Beach State, while Rozeboom joined her with a three-goal performance versus Hartwick. They became the second and third Bruins to join the club this year, as Maddie Musselman reached the milestone on Feb. 25. Musselman became the fastest Bruin to triple digits, doing it in her 44th game. The sophomore previously set the UCLA freshman record for goals scored with 69. The Newport Beach, Calif. native has not missed a beat in her second season, leading the team in goals (46) annd assists (28). She is second to Liebowitz (12) for the team lead in field blocks with 11 and trails just Halligan (46) in takeaways with 40. She has tallied 17 multi-goal games, including six hat tricks. She has 115 goals in just 52 career games (2.21 per game).
NEXT WOMAN UP
Just under one third (82) of UCLA's 250 goals have come from either newcomers or players who participated in five or fewer games in 2017. Freshman Lexi Liebowitz leads those players with 17. Sophomore Emily Skelly, meanwhile, has 15. Brooke Maxson (11), Kelsey Blacker (nine), Louise Hazell (eight), Sarah Sheldon (seven), Myna Simmons (six), Roxy Wheaton (five), Haley Evans (two) and Allison Wieseler (two) round out that group. The seven returners (Skelly, Maxson, Blacker, Hazell, Sheldon, Evans and Wieseler) on that list combined for just five goals in 2017. The Bruins lost seven seniors--including four starters--from its NCAA runner-up 2017 squad.
THE WRIGHT WAY
Adam Wright, who has coached the UCLA men's water polo team to three NCAA Championships (2014, 2015, 2017), took over head coach of both the UCLA men's and women's water polo teams on July 20, 2017. Wright has an overall record of 227-37 (.860) and an MPSF mark of 51-12 (.810) on the men's side. From 2014-16, Wright's Bruins set an NCAA record with 57 consecutive victories and a conference record with 26 consecutive MPSF wins. Prior to becoming head coach of the men's program in 2009, he served as an assistant coach with the men's and women's teams during the 2008-09 school year, helping the women win an unprecedented fifth consecutive NCAA Championship in May 2009.
