Saturday, January 27
Berkeley, CA
1:30 PM

UCLA

vs

UC Davis

UCLA Team Photo after Marist game
Three of the games at the California Cup will be exhibition contests with the only countable game coming against No. 14 UC Davis.
Photo by: Minette Rubin

No. 2 UCLA Heads to Bay Area for Cal Cup

January 26, 2024 | Women's Water Polo

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LOS ANGELES โ€“ No. 2 UCLA (3-0, 0-0 MPSF) heads to the Bay Area for the California Cup in Berkeley, Calif. The Bruins will play four games, but only one countable as the other three will be exhibition games with no stats or scores counting. The Bruins will open with an exhibition game against No. 7 Stanford at 9:00 a.m. PT on Saturday, Jan. 27, and then finish the day with No. 14 UC Davis (0-4) at 1:30 p.m. PT. Sunday's games will both be exhibition contests as the Bruins will take on No. 3ย  California at 9:30 a.m. PT andย then conclude the weekend with the USA Youth National Team at 12:30 p.m. PT. You can find rosters, schedules, and statistics for all teams as well as live statsย linksย at the Tournament Central page by clickingย here.

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE
Saturday, Jan. 27 (California Cupย โ€“ย Spieker Aquatics Complex)
9:00 AM PT โ€“ No. 2 UCLAย vs. No. 7 Stanford
1:30 PM PT โ€“ No. 2 UCLAย vs. No. 14 UC Davis |ย LIVE STATS

Sunday, Jan. 28 (California Cupย โ€“ย Spieker Aquatics Complex)
9:30ย AM PT โ€“ No. 2 UCLAย at No. 3 California
12:30 PM PT โ€“ No. 2 UCLA vs. USA Youth National Team

SERIES HISTORY
This is the 23rd meeting between UCLA and UC Davis with the Bruins leading the series 21-1. The Bruins defeated the Aggies last year, 21-7, in the only countable game of last year's California Cup.ย Sophomoreย Emma Linebackย scored a career-high five goals to lead the Bruins to the big win.ย A total of nine Bruins got into the scoring column in the victory, including three more hat tricks, one each from graduate studentย Val Ayala, and freshmenย Anna Pearson, andย Lily Gess.ย Juniorย Sydney Chiangย got the start in the cage and went the distance, tallying a season-high eight saves while allowing seven goals.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW
No. 3 UCLA (1-0) got off to a hot 6-0 startย in the first quarter and never looked back, cruising to a 19-6 season-opening win over No. 25 Marist in the first game of the UCSB Winter Invitational at Santa Barbara High School on Saturday morning. UCLA improved to 4-0 all-time in the series history.ย The Bruins had 12 players score in the contest, led by a career-high effort of three goals from graduate studentย Brooke Doten. Five other Bruins had multiple-goal scores with graduate studentย Hannah Palmer, sophomoreย Taylor Smith, juniorย Molly Renner, freshmanย Olivia Ouellette, and juniorย Nicole Strussย all scoring twice.ย Freshmanย Lauren Steeleย got the start in the cage and played the first quarter, tallying five saves while pitching a shutout. Seniorย Sydney Chiangย played the second and third quarters in the cage and had four saves and a steal while surrendering four goals. Freshmanย Joey Nizย played the fourth quarter in goal and was credited with three saves and a steal while allowing two scores.

No. 3 UCLA (2-0) escaped with a 10-9 win over No. 10 UC San Diego (1-1) in the second gameย of the UCSB Winter Invitational at Santa Barbara High School on Saturday afternoon. UCLA improved to 37-3 all-time in the series history with the Tritons.ย The Bruins had seven players score in the contest, led by a career-high-tying effort of three goals from sophomoreย Lily Gess. Freshmanย Becca Melansonย was the only other Bruin to turn in a multiple-goal game effort and her second score was the largest of the contest, the eventual game-winning goal that break a 9-9 tie at the 5:59 mark of the fourth period.ย Freshmanย Lauren Steeleย got the start in the cage and played most of the game (all but the final 0:30 of the first quarter and the last 1:40 of the third quarter), tallying eight saves and three steals while giving up six goals. She also was 1-for-2 from the field (wearing cap number two), scoring her first collegiate goal against the Tritons in the second period. Freshmanย Joey Nizย played the remaining 2:10 that Steele didn't play in the cage and had four saves while surrendering three goals.

No. 3 UCLA (3-0) used a dominant second period to post a 14-11 win at No. 12 UC Santaย Barbara (2-1) in the final gameย of the UCSB Winter Invitational at Santa Barbara High School on Sunday morning. UCLA improved to 46-2 all-time in the series history with the Gauchos.ย The Bruins had eight players score in the contest, led by a game-high effort of fourย goals from sophomoreย Anna Pearson. Freshmenย Panni Szegediย andย Lauren Steeleย wereย the only other Bruins to turn in a multiple-goal game effort with two scores in the contest.ย Freshmanย Lauren Steeleย got the start in the cage and played the first half and the final 0:38 of the game in the cage, tallying four saves and two steals while giving up four goals. She also went 2-for-2 from the field (wearing cap number two), scoring her second and third goals of the season. Additionally, she committed a penalty foul in the first possession of the game, but calmly denied the Gauchos' ensuing penalty shot. Freshmanย Joey Nizย played all but the final 0:38 of the second half between the posts, recording three savesย while surrendering seven goals.

STEELE NAMED MPSF/S&R SPORT NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
UCLA freshman goalkeeperย Lauren Steeleย (Old Greenwich, Conn./Orange Lutheranย HS) has been named the MPSF/S&R Sport Newcomer of the Weekย as announced by the league office on Jan. 23. Steele went 3-0 in the cage as the Bruins' starting goalkeeper against three ranked teams at the UCSB Winter Invitational over the weekend. She racked up a total of 17 saves (10.0 saves per game) while sporting a 5.88 goals against average in her three appearances in goal. While starting every game, she led the team in steals with five as she played just over half of the 12 quarters (6.8) in the cage and then played in the field, where she finished tied for fourth on the team in scoring with three goals (on six shots). She had five saves while pitching a shutout in the first period in the win over No. 25 Marist. She followed that with eight saves, three steals, and her first collegiate goal in the win over No. 10 UC San Diego in 29:50 of action in goal. In the win at No. 12 UC Santa Barbara, she played 16:38 in the cage, making four saves and two steals while allowing just four goals. She also scored twice (on two shots) against the Gauchos. This wasย Lauren Steele'sย first career MPSF award.

PEARSON IS LONE RETURNING ALL-AMERICANย FROM 2023
Sophomore utility Anna Pearson is the only Bruin All-American back for the 2024 season. She earned Honorable Mention accolades after finishing second on the team in scoring with 46 goals. First Team All-Americanย center Ava Johnson,ย graduated, as did Second-Teamer, utility Katrina Drake. Junior attackerย Emma Lineback and sophomore utility Sienna Green both earned Honorable Mention plaudits and both will miss the 2024 campaign to train for a spot on the National Teams of their respective countries, USA and Australia, for the Olympic Games.

TWO MOREย ALL-AMERICANS RETURNING
But while only one player is back this season that earned All-America acclaim in 2023, the Bruins return two more players that have achieved All-America status in their respective careers. Junior attacker Molly Renner earned Honorable Mention honors in 2022 and was eighth on the team last year in scoring with 25 goals (56 in her career). Graduate student Hannah Palmer has decided to use her free COVID year and return for a fifth season after earning Second-Team All-America honors in 2021. The attacker was 10th on the team last year in scoring with 20 goals (93 in her career).

RETURNING ALL-MPSFย SELECTIONS
While five of the Bruins' seven All-MPSF selections from a year ago are either gone or using an Olympic year, two players return from the 2023 season that received postseason accolades from the league office. Both are sophomores in utility Anna Pearson and attacker Taylor Smith, who was seventh on the squad in scoring with 30 goals.

TENDING GOAL
The Bruins have five goalkeepers on the 2024 roster that will be vying for playing time and three of them saw action last season. Leading the charge will beย seniorย Sydney Chiang, who played in eight games (starting six times) while going 6-0ย on the year. Sophomoreย Izzy Rosensittoย made one appearance on the year while junior MJ Bailey also played in one game. Looking to make an immediate impact will be two true freshmen goalkeepers in Joey Niz (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitosย HS) and Lauren Steele (Old Greenwich, Conn./Orange Lutheran HS).
ย 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The Bruins will be a fairly young team in 2024 with 11 true freshmen and six sophomores on the roster. That is a total of 17 of the Bruins' 26 student-athletes (65.4 percent) on the roster with only one year or less of collegiate experience. The 11 freshmen include the two aforementioned goalies, as well as center Dania Innis (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte HS), attackers Elektra Urbatsch (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day School), Becca Melanson (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny HS), Helene MacBeth (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente HS), Camille Greenlee (Carlsbad, Calif./The Bishop's School), and Alexsa Gimenez (Commerce, Calif./Downey HS), and utilities Natasha Kieckhafer (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic HS), Olivia Ouellette (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos HS), and Panni Szegedi (Budapest, Hungary/Kolping Katolikus Iskola).
ย 
OUTNUMBERED BUT MIGHTY
UCLA will have nine players on its 2024 roster that are either juniors, seniors or graduate students. Three graduate students are using their free COVID year to play in 2024 and they include attackers Fiona Kuesis, Hannah Palmer, and Brooke Doten. The Bruins also have three seniors on the roster that includes goalkeeper Sydney Chiang and attackers Anneliese Miller and Malia Allen. While junior Emma Lineback is taking an Olympic year, three other juniors return in 2024 that includes goalkeeper MJ Bailey, attacker Molly Renner, and utility Nicole Struss.

WRIGHT ON DECK
Adam Wright is in his seventh season as UCLA's head women's water polo coach in 2024 with an overall record of 129-36ย (.782) and an MPSF mark of 25-12 (.676). He recently won his 100th game at the helm of the women's program with a 9-8 victory at No. 4 California (Mar. 5, 2022).ย On July 20, 2017, then-UCLA Director of Athletics, Dan Guerrero, announced that Wrightย would guide both the UCLA men's and women's water polo teams.
ย 
RECAPPING 2023
Overall Record: 21-8 (.724) | MPSF Record: 4-2 (.667) |ย Final Ranking: 3rd | NCAA Finish: T-3rd |ย MPSFย Tournament Finish: 4th

UCLA finished the season at 21-8 overall and 4-2 in the MPSF in 2023ย in head coach Adam Wright's sixth season at the helm of the program. Five Bruins earned All-America acclaim on the year. Graduate centerย Ava Johnsonย headlined the list of Bruin selections as UCLA's lone First-Team honoree. Graduate utilityย Katrina Drakeย was the only Bruin to earn Second-Team honors. The remaining three Bruins earned Honorable Mention All-America accolades, which included sophomore attackerย Emma Linebackย and a pair of freshmen utility inย Anna Pearsonย andย Sienna Green.

UCLA IN THEย CWPA POLL
The Bruins moved up one spot to No. 2 in theย 2024ย CWPAย National Women's Varsity Top 25 Poll (94 points), released on Jan. 24.
ย 
2024 Women's Varsity Top 25 (Week 1/January 24)
Rank Team 2024 Preseason Poll Points
ย 1. ย USC ย 1 (T) ย 100
ย 2. ย UCLA ย 3 ย 94
ย 3. ย California ย 4 ย 92
ย 4. ย Hawai'i ย 5 (T) ย 90
ย 5. ย Fresno State ย 9 ย 83
ย 6. ย UC Irvine ย 5 (T) ย 79
ย 7. ย Stanford ย 1 (T) ย 78
ย 8. ย Long Beach State ย 7 ย 71
ย 9. ย Princeton ย 8 ย 69
ย 10. ย UC San Diego ย 10 ย 63
ย 11. ย Michigan ย 13 ย 55
ย 12. ย UC Santa Barbara ย 12 ย 53
ย 13. ย Arizona State ย 14 ย 47
ย 14. ย UC Davis ย 11 ย 46
ย 15. ย Pacific ย 16 ย 42
ย 16. ย Indiana ย 15 ย 41
ย 17. ย Harvard ย 17 ย 39
ย 18. ย San Jose State ย 18 (T) ย 33
ย 19. ย Loyola Marymount ย 18(T) ย 32
ย 20. ย Wagner ย 20 ย 26
ย 21. ย CSUN ย 21 (T) ย 21
ย 22. ย Long Island University ย 21 (T) ย 17
ย 23. ย San Diego State ย 23 ย 13
ย 24. ย Pomona-Pitzer ย 25 (T) ย 6
ย 25. ย Biola ย 25 (T) ย 5
ย RV ย Brown ย 24 ย 4
ย RV ย Marist ย 25 (T) ย 2

ย 

Players Mentioned

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