Monday, April 30, 2001

[ WATER POLO ]

Stanford earns spot
in NCAA tournament

By Jack Danilewicz
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Stanford coach John Tanner put the emphasis on his own team as his Cardinal prepared for their fourth meeting of the season with rival UCLA.

"We focused primarily on what we needed to do," said Tanner, whose team prevailed, 8-5, to win the title game of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation women's water polo championship at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.

"The women on both teams know each other well, so it really doesn't take a lot of preparation when we play each other," Tanner said.

Stanford improved to 27-0 on the season and earned the automatic bid to the inaugural NCAA women's water polo championships, which the Cardinal will also host May 12-13.

The Cardinal have held the nation's top ranking since the first poll was released on Feb. 14; UCLA (17-4) is expected to receive an at-large bid.

"It starts over, zero to zero," says Tanner of the upcoming tournament. "We don't get to carry the score over into the start of the NCAAs. But we're excited to host the first NCAA tournament and we're excited to be undefeated."

Leading the Cardinal yesterday was Brenda Villa, who scored three goals. Coralie Simmons led UCLA with three goals, all in the second half.

Stanford never trailed on the night and broke the only tie (1-1) with 5:29 left in the second quarter when Julie Gardner beat UCLA goalkeeper Jaime Hipp with a goal just inside the left post. The Cardinal scored twice just before halftime, adding to their lead to 4-1, and Stanford was never seriously threatened the rest of the way.

Stanford had won the earlier meetings between the teams 7-6, 10-7 and 7-4, respectively, and expected a close affair.

"I think it got to a situation where once we got a significant lead, their energy level dropped a little bit," said Tanner. "We really finished our opportunities. And our team defense was terrific. After the first quarter, especially, I thought we played really well, and Jackie Frank, our goalie, is phenomenal."

"We have to give her (Frank) credit," says UCLA coach Adam Krikorian. "She's a great goalie, and they're a great team. They're certainly the favorite going in."

In other games yesterday, Neva West scored three goals, including the last two of the match as San Jose State beat Hawaii, 8-7, in overtime for fifth. Also, Southern Cal defeated California, 11-8, for third place; San Diego State edged UC Santa Barbara, 7-6, for seventh place; and Long Beach State downed Pacific, 6-4.