What's Ahead
Following a two-week break for final exams, No. 3 Stanford (13-2, 1-0 MPSF) returns to the pool when it travels to No. 10 UC San Diego and No. 13 UC Santa Barbara for nonconference action. The Cardinal is at the Tritons on Sunday, March 20 before heading up the road to play the Gauchos on Tuesday, March 22. Both games start at noon.
Looking Back
Kat Klass scored a career-high five goals, Dani Jackovich and Jamie Neushul added hat tricks and the Cardinal won its MPSF opener on March 5 at San Jose State, 17-3. The win, which moved Stanford’s record to 13-2 this season, was also the program’s 40th straight in league regular-season games.
Newcomer of the Week
Stanford freshman Kat Klass was named MPSF/Kap7 Newcomer of the Week for the second time this season following her five-goal performance at San Jose State. Klass’ career-high effort was the highest goal total for a Stanford player in a league game since Kiley Neushul scored six at CSU Bakersfield on April 12, 2014. Current senior Anna Yelizarova was the last Cardinal freshman to score five times in a game, when she put home that many in a 15-4 win over San Jose State on February 2, 2013.
Seeing The Stats
Stanford finds itself leading the MPSF in goals per game (13.07), ahead of USC (12.69) and UCLA (11.82), and third in goals allowed per game (5.33) behind USC (4.62) and Cal (5.10). Individually, Jamie Neushul leads the Cardinal and is fourth in the conference in goals per game (1.93). Kat Klass is fifth (1.87), Anna Yelizarova is 13th (1.47), Gurpreet Sohi is 17th (1.40) and Dani Jackovich is 22nd (1.20). Julia Hermann’s 5.63 goals against average is fifth in the conference and her 8.22 saves per game are seventh.
Olympic Qualifying
On March 9, Stanford’s Makenzie Fischer, Kiley Neushul, Melissa Seidemann and Maggie Steffens were named to the USA Water Polo Women’s National Team roster that will take part in the 2016 Olympic Qualification Tournament. The tournament, which starts March 21 in Gouda, Netherlands, is Team USA’s one and only chance to qualify for this summer’s Olympic Games. A top-four finish is required to punch a ticket to Rio.
Rewind To 2015
The Cardinal won 25 games for the ninth consecutive season in 2015 and made history by becoming the first host institution to win the NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championship. The national crown was the fifth in program history and the Cardinal’s fourth in the past five seasons.
A photo posted by Stanford Women's Water Polo (@stanfordwwaterpolo) on Nov 15, 2015 at 10:30am PST
World University Games
Stanford had an early start to building a cohesive unit heading into this season. Over the summer, the Cardinal represented the United States at the World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea. After going 1-2-1 in pool play, the U.S. went 2-1 in its final three games to come in fifth out of the 10-team field. Jamie Neushul led the U.S. at the World University Games in goals, scoring 18 (2.6 per game) and freshman Kat Klass joined her in double figures rattling the cage 11 times (1.6 per game). Defensively, Raney contributed five field blocks in South Korea, while Cassidy Papa and Shannon Cleary added four each. Gabby Stone and Jamie Neushul had nine steals apiece, Dani Jackovich added seven and Kat Klass five.
Gyeongbok Palace, built in 1395. Final adventure of the trip. #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/ieQtg22GDB
— Stanford Water Polo (@Stanfordh2opolo) July 15, 2015
Junior Worlds
Stanford All-Americans Jamie Neushul and Jordan Raney helped the United States repeat as FINA Junior World Champions with an undefeated run to the title in Volos, Greece in August. Team USA outscored its opponents 106 to 46 over the six games, which were capped with a 13-10 victory over Spain in the championship. Neushul, who served as captain for the United States, scored 14 goals, including three hat tricks, while Raney, the reigning MPSF Newcomer of the Year, added six.
Congrats Jordan & @Jneushul8 on bringing home the Gold. #Volos2015. Jr Worlds. pic.twitter.com/PF8Ajkvjoe
— Stanford Water Polo (@Stanfordh2opolo) August 23, 2015
In The Polls
Stanford remained third in the national rankings (92 points), behind No. 1 USC (100 points) and No. 2 UCLA (96 points) in this week’s CWPA Women’s Varsity Top 20 Poll. Hawaii (88 points) and Michigan (83 points) round out the top five.
MPSF Pick
Stanford collected 32 points and three first-place votes to top the 2016 MPSF Women’s Water Polo Coaches’ Poll, which was released by the conference on Jan. 7. USC was tabbed second with 31 points and three first-place votes while UCLA was third with 29 points and one first-place vote. California, Arizona State, San Jose State and CSU Bakersfield rounded out the preseason picks. The Cardinal has not lost an MPSF game since 2009, a stretch of 40 straight regular season conference outings. Its last league loss came at USC on April 18, 2009 (11-6).