April 24, 2002
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Cardinal Update . . .
The nation's top seven teams, including No. 1 UCLA and co-No. 2 USC and Stanford, are part of the 12-team field for the 2002 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Women's Water Polo Championship hosted by USC at the McDonald's Swim Staduim this Friday through Sunday (April 26-28). The Cardinal are seeded first in the MPSF tourney (based on goal differential tiebreaker), USC is second, UCLA is third and No. 4 California is seeded fourth. Long Beach State (5), San Jose State (6), San Diego State (7), Hawaii (8), UC Santa Barbara (9), UC Irvine (10), Pacific (11) and CS Northridge (12) round out the tournament field. The winner of the MPSF tourney gets an automatic berth into the four-team NCAA Championship May 11-12, also hosted by USC.
MPSF Women's Water Polo Championship Tournament April 26-28 USC McDonald's Swim Stadium
Fri., Apr. 26 - First Round Gm 1 8:00 a.m. #8 Hawaii (13-12 overall, 5-6 MPSF) vs. #9 UC Santa Barbara (16-15, 4-7) Gm 2 9:15 a.m. #7 San Diego State (18-13, 5-6) vs. #10 UC Irvine (14-21, 2-9) Gm 3 10:30 a.m. #6 San Jose State (17-10, 5-6) vs. #11 Pacific (5-17, 1-10) Gm 4 11:45 a.m. #5 Long Beach State (17-11, 6-5) vs. #12 Cal State Northridge (5-20, 0-11) Gm 5 1:00 p.m. #1 Stanford (19-1, 10-1) vs. Winner Game 1 Gm 6 2:15 p.m. #2 USC (24-3, 10-1) vs. Winner Game 2 Gm 7 3:30 p.m. #3 UCLA (18-3, 10-1) vs. Winner Game 3 Gm 8 4:45 p.m. #4 California (16-7, 8-3) vs. Winner Game 4
Sat., Apr. 27 - Semifinals Gm 9 10:00 a.m. Loser Game 1 vs Loser Game 4 Gm 10 11:15 a.m. Loser Game 2 vs Loser Game 3 Gm 11 12:30 p.m. Loser Game 8 vs Loser Game 5 Gm 12 1:45 p.m. Loser Game 7 vs Loser Game 6 Gm 13 3:00 p.m. Winner Game 5 vs Winner Game 8 Gm 14 4:15 p.m. Winner Game 6 vs Winner Game 7
Sun., Apr. 28 - Championship 11th Place Gm 15 10:00 a.m. Loser Game 10 vs Loser Game 9 9th Place Gm 16 11:15 a.m. Winner Game 10 vs Winner Game 9 7th Place Gm 17 12:30 p.m. Loser Game 12 vs Loser Game 11 5th Place Gm 18 1:45 p.m. Winner Game 12 vs Winner Game 11 3rd Place Gm 19 3:00 p.m. Loser Game 13 vs Loser Game 14 1st Place Gm 20 4:15 p.m. Winner Game 13 vs Winner Game 14
The Rankings . . .
Stanford started the 2002 season ranked No. 2 behind the 2001 defending champion UCLA, but defeated the Bruins on Feb. 10 to earn the top spot in the polls. The Cardinal held the No. 1 spot until USC upset Stanford 7-6 on March 30. In the latest Water Polo Coaches Association Top 20 Poll, the Bruins defeated the Trojans to regain the top spot last week. Stanford and USC are tied for second, while No. 4 California and San Diego State and Long Beach State are tied for fifth.
Last Time Out . . .
The Cardinal gave up two goals in the first quarter, but held San Jose State to just three more the rest of the game en route to a 13-5 Stanford win over the Spartans last Saturday afternoon at the Aquatics Center. Ellen Estes led the Cardinal with four goals in her final regular season game, while Brenda Villa netted three scores. Freshman Kelty Luber recorded her first collegiate two-goal game against the Spartans.
Scoring Machine . . .
Sophomore Brenda Villa has been a true scoring threat this season, tallying 51 goals in 20 contests for Stanford. Villa, last season's Division I Player of the Year, is averaging 2.55 scores a game. Villa has scored four goals twice, against UC Davis and vs. Cal in the semifinal game of the Gaucho Invitational. She also netted the game-winning goal against UCLA on Feb. 24 in the third overtime period, and scored two goals in the final quarter of the Cardinal's win at UCLA on March 3rd.
Firing From The Start . . .
The Cardinal have opened all their 20 games with scoring on the mind. Stanford has outscored opponents 66-15 in the first quarter, and 212-72 overall. The Cardinal are also converting 34 percent of their 6-on-5's.
Players Of The Week . . .
For her efforts in the Gaucho Invitational, Brenda Villa was named MPSF Mikasa Player of the Week on Feb. 24. The following week, teammate Julie Gardner earned the same honor after scoring three goals at UCLA to earn back-to-back POW honors for the Cardinal. Ellen Estes earned the same honor last week, netting four goals against San Jose State on April 20.
Bittersweet Ending . . .
The Stanford women's water polo team put together an amazing 27-game winning streak before falling in the NCAA Championship game when UCLA scored a goal with just over one minute remaining to claim the national title. It was the Cardinal's first and only loss of the year as it completed the best season in the history of the six-year program at 27-1. Stanford also became the first collegiate women's water polo team to go undefeated in the regular season at 25-0 and went on to claim its second straight MPSF Championship.
Tanner Tablet . . .
Stanford head coach John Tanner has made a splash in his first five years at the helm of the women's water polo program. An experienced and enthusiastic coach, Tanner took on the fledgling program and has turned it into a competitive force year-in and year-out. Last season he guided the Cardinal as it became the first-ever collegiate team to remain undefeated during the regular season, finishing 2001 with a 27-1 record. The NCAA runners-up had six All-Americans, including the Division I Player of the Year, Brenda Villa. Tanner was also named the MPSF Coach of the Year for the most successful season in program history.