StarBulletin.com

MPSF women's water polo tournament glance


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POSTED: Friday, April 24, 2009

Seedings in parenthesis:

at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex

Today

Game 1: Stanford (2) vs. San Diego State (7), 3 p.m.; Game 2: UCLA (3) vs. Hawaii (6), 4:30 p.m.; Game 3: USC (1) vs. Arizona State (6), 6 p.m.; Game 4: Cal (4) vs. San Jose State (5), 7:30 p.m.

Tomorrow

Game 5: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 3 p.m.; Game 6: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 4:30 p.m.; Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 6 p.m.; Game 8: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday

Seventh place: Game 5 loser vs. Game 6 loser, noon; Fifth place: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 1:30 p.m.; Third place: Game 7 loser vs. Game 8 loser, 3 p.m.; Championship: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 5 p.m.

No. 1 USC (21-1, 7-0)

» Inside USC: The Trojans capped their unbeaten MPSF season Sunday with a 9-5 win at Long Beach State, extending their winning streak to 11. They earned the top seed when knocking off then-top-ranked Stanford on Saturday 11-6, avenging their only loss of the season, a 12-11 double-overtime defeat to the Cardinal.

» Coming home: Sisters Jordan and Tumua Anae were born in Honolulu but raised in Newport Beach, Calif. Jordan, a senior goalie, had 20 saves in a 14-4 win at Cal, the best in the MPSF this season and in USC history.

» Stein time: Senior driver Michelle Stein leads the MPSF in scoring at 2.82 gpg and has scored in every match for the Trojans. She has 62 goals and 20 multi-goal outings.

No. 2 Stanford (22-2, 6-1)

» Inside Stanford: The Cardinal lost their top ranking and undefeated season when falling to host USC on Saturday, ending Stanford's 19-game winning streak. The Trojans handed the Cardinal their only other loss of the year in overtime, 12-10.

» Tourney tested: Stanford has finished lower than second just once in the MPSF tournament, placing third last season. The Cardinal has won the event four times and finished second five.

» Young gun: Melissa Seidemann, with 55 goals so far, is looking to become the fourth true freshman since 1997 to lead Stanford in scoring.

No. 3 UCLA (20-5, 5-2)

» Inside UCLA: The Bruins are having an off year by their standards, finishing third in the MPSF and losing to Hawaii for the first time ever.

» Title town: UCLA has won the past four NCAA titles and six of the eight championship tournaments held.

» Blue crushed: The loss to Hawaii was the first for the Bruins since falling to Stanford 7-6 on April 14, 2007.

No. 4 Cal (30-6, 3-4)

» Inside Cal: The Golden Bears are 13-2 in their last 15 contests, with both losses coming by one goal (6-5 at Hawaii and 9-8 to Stanford).

» Golden arms: Junior driver Meghan Corso leads the team in goals (65) and multi-goal games (22). Freshman driver Emily Csikos scored four in last week's 15-11 win over Cal State Bakersfield to up her totals to 60 goals and 11 multi-goal games.

» Hot start: The Golden Bears opened the season with a program-best 14-0 record and three straight tournament titles.

No. 5 San Jose State (19-12, 3-4)

» Inside SJSU: The Spartans have won 11 of their last 12, with the lone defeat to Cal State Bakersfield, 12-11. The 10-8 overtime win over Hawaii to open the MPSF season was the tiebreaker that gave the Spartans the fifth seed and the Rainbow Wahine the sixth.

» Moss the boss: Senior 2-meter Juliet Moss became the program's all-time leading scorer with four goals in Saturday's 14-5 win at UC Davis. She now holds both the single-season (74) and career (200) records.

» So tweet: Jack Stewart, a 60-year-old business lobbyist whose daughter Allie plays for the Spartan, has put the team on the social media scene via his Twitter.com persona (jackstew). He had 92 tweets in 82 minutes in SJSU's 14-5 win Saturday at UC Davis.

No. 6 Hawaii (16-7, 3-4)

» Inside Hawaii: The Rainbow Wahine tied for fourth in the MPSF with Cal and San Jose State, but lost the tiebreaker and are seeded sixth.

» On a roll: Hawaii has won its last seven, including going 4-0 to win the San Diego State Aztec Invitational. The Wahine are 3-1 at home, with the lone loss coming to USC 7-6.

» Blue crush: Hawaii defeated UCLA 13-12 at the Stanford Invitational on Feb. 7, the Wahine's first victory over the Bruins in 33 meetings. It also ended UCLA's program-best 46-match winning streak, a national record.

» Goal-den: Leading the Wahine attack are junior Leonie Van Der Molen (47 goals) and senior Kelly Mason (46). Junior Dagmar Genee has 22 goals and 28 assists, while sophomore Serena Bredin has 168 saves.

No. 7 San Diego State (22-9, 1-6)

» Inside SDSU: The Aztecs have been more successful outside the MPSF than in, with their lone victory keeping Arizona State winless in conference play. The victory snapped a four-game losing skid, during which SDSU played the Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 13 teams.

» Senior leaders: Anna Gonzales leads the MPSF with 86 goals and Jenna Schuster is 13th with 60. The team's top two scores have helped the Aztecs score in double figures 19 times, including a string of eight consecutive double-digit scoring contests.

» Going, going, gone: Hawaii coach Michel Roy built a new kickout board, one of the largest in the country, for the MPSF tournament. He may have had Aztec senior 2-meter Erinn Greenwood in mind. She holds the program's career record for ejections, with 94 so far this year.

No. 8 Arizona State (13-12, 0-7)

» Inside ASU: The Sun Devils opened the season 6-0 before reality—in the form of USC—showed up. The Trojans romped to a 19-9 victory, winning the later meeting 13-4. Meeting No. 3 comes today.

» Sophomore sensation: Attacker Lynlee Smith scored 22 goals in four games in the ASU Invitational, including seven against Cal Lutheran, which tied a program record. Smith has represented New Zealand at the international level with Hawaii's Kelly Mason and Lisa van Raalte. She leads ASU with 59 goals.

» Scoring in bunches: The Sun Devils have scored 264 goals this year.