2018 Barbara Kalbus Invitational
UC Irvine Aquatic Center and Corona del Mar Pool
Friday, Feb. 23 vs. #19 Long Beach State • 10 a.m.
Saturday, Feb. 24 vs. #8 Pacific or #9 Michigan • TBD
Saturday, Feb. 24 vs. TBD
Sunday, Feb. 25 vs. TBD
Tournament Central
Statistics
WHAT'S AHEADNo. 1 Stanford is in Irvine, Calif. this weekend at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational. The Cardinal opens with No. 19 Long Beach State on Friday, Feb. 23 at 10 a.m. Depending on results, Stanford would play either No. 8 Pacific or No. 9 Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 8 a.m. The Cardinal will also play a second game later in the day on Saturday before wrapping up the tournament on Sunday with opponents to be determined depending on how the bracket shakes out. All of the 16 teams in attendance are ranked in the CWPA Women's Varsity Top 25.
BARBARA KALBUS INVITATIONAL HISTORYNow in its 12th year, Stanford is 36-8 all-time at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational and was tournament champion in 2007, 2009 and 2011. Last season, the Cardinal finished second with wins over No. 22 CSUN (16-5), No. 8 Michigan (13-5) and No. 4 Cal (12-9). The Cardinal's first loss of the year came in overtime in the final against No. 2 USC, 10-9. Deadlocked 7-7 after 32 minutes, USC inched ahead 9-8 with a pair of goals in the first overtime period before Makenzie Fischer evened the score with less than a minute left in the second extra session. Stanford's Maggie Steffens was whistled for an exclusion with 29 seconds to go and Ioanna Haralabidis converted in the 6-on-5 with just five ticks left to win it for USC. Formerly the UC Irvine Invitational, the tournament was renamed in 2017 to honor water polo icon Dr. Barbara Kalbus, a 1993 inductee into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.
WHAT JUST HAPPENEDThe Cardinal won three games, upped its home record to 97-7 over the past decade and claimed the 2018 Stanford Invitational two weeks ago. Stanford beat No. 8 Pacific (16-4) and No. 10 Long Beach State (14-2) before knocking off No. 2 Cal in the final, 11-9, to win its home tournament for the second consecutive year.
MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEKJunior Kat Klass was named MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week for the first time in her career on Feb. 6 for her performances at the Stanford Invitational. She scored 10 goals in three games and saved her best for last, tying a career high with five goals in the final against Cal.
SEEING THE STATSStanford leads the MPSF in goals per game (15.00), ahead of USC (14.14) and Cal (13.64), and is second in goals allowed per game (4.14), trailing USC (2.14). Individually, Makenzie Fischer is second in goals per game (2.57) and Kat Klass is tied for sixth (2.00). Madison Berggren is tied for ninth (1.71) while Aria Fischer is 15th (1.57) and Katie Dudley is 18th (1.43). Julia Hermann's 5.11 goals against average is sixth in the conference and her 7.11 saves per game are eighth. Emalia Eichelberger is second in goals against average (2.25) and ninth in saves per game (6.75).
LOOKING BACK TO 2017Maggie Steffens scored the game winner with nine seconds left and Stanford won the program's sixth NCAA championship with an 8-7 victory over UCLA on May 14 in Indianapolis. The championship was the Cardinal's sixth overall and fifth in the past seven seasons. Stanford, the only team to appear in all 17 NCAA championships since its inception in 2001, has racked up a record of 36-11 postseason record.
WHAT'S IN STOREStanford will again be in strong position to repeat in 2018. Despite losing three of its top four scorers, the Cardinal returns a pair of 2017 All-Americans in Makenzie Fischer and Jordan Raney along with 20-goal scorers Kat Klass, Madison Berggren and Katie Dudley.
A post shared by Stanford Women's Water Polo (@stanfordh2opolo) on Sep 23, 2017 at 9:29pm PDT
Among six departed seniors, Stanford must replace a quartet of All-Americans in Maggie Steffens, Jamie Neushul, Dani Jackovich and Gabby Stone. Julia Hermann, a 2016 All-American while Stone was away training with the U.S. women's national team, will resume her place in the cage for the Cardinal.YEAR TWOSophomore Makenzie Fischer matched her personal best, pouring in five for the third time in her career in a 12-2 victory over No. 7 UC Irvine on Jan. 27. She's had multi-score performances in each of Stanford's seven games this season and in all but four of the 33 games she's played the past year-plus. Fischer is averaging 2.57 goals through seven games this season.
BACK IN THE CAGERedshirt senior Julia Hermann returns as Stanford's full-time starting goalkeeper in place of the graduated Gabby Stone. When Stone took off the 2016 season to train with the United States, Hermann was one of the best in the country. She posted a 5.67 goals against average in 110.809 quarters and made 244 saves, an average of 8.81 per game and the highest total at Stanford since 2001. A third-team All-American that year, Hermann had 10 double-digit save performances, made 31 saves in three games at the NCAA championships in Los Angeles and was voted the tournament's best goalkeeper.
SUMMER WITH USAWPJordan Raney received her first senior women's national team action this summer and won gold at the FINA World Championships in Budapest with current teammates Makenzie and Aria Fischer and Stanford alums Jamie Neushul, Kiley Neushul, Melissa Seidemann, Maggie Steffens, Gabby Stone.
???? #GoStanford #SUTaipei2017
A post shared by Stanford Women's Water Polo (@stanfordh2opolo) on Aug 29, 2017 at 8:11am PDT
The United States won gold at the 2017 World University Games in Taipei in August behind the play of eight Cardinal. Current undergrads Madison Berggren, Aria Fischer, Kat Klass and Jordan Raney were joined by alumnae Dani Jackovich, Jamie Neushul, Kiley Neushul and Gabby Stone as the U.S. rolled to eight wins and outscored its opponents 127 to 38.
Freshman Sarah Klass and the United States finished fifth at the FINA Junior World Championship in Greece in September. Klass played in all seven games and scored six times on 15 shots to go along with a pair of assists.IN THE POLLSStanford, the nation's preseason No. 1 for the fourth consecutive year, remained No. 1 in the CWPA poll released Wednesday. The Cardinal has 100 points and is followed by Cal (94 points), USC (93 points), UCLA (89 points) and Hawaii (84 points).