April 27, 2004
THIS WEEK'S ACTION
2004 MPSF Tournament * April 30-May 2
Hosted by Long Beach State University
U.S. Water Polo National Aquatic Center * Los Alamitos, Calif.
STANFORD SEASON UPDATE:
* - No. 2 Stanford has posted an 18-3 record this season and earned the second seed in the 2004 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament with a 10-1 league record ... The Cardinal will face the winner of No. 7-seed Hawaii and No. 10-seed UC Irvine in game six of the first round of the MPSF Tournament on Friday, April 30, at 5 p.m.
* - The Cardinal downed No. 11 San Jose State 8-3 in its final regular-season match ... Senior Lauren Faust led ths squad with two goals ... Goalkeeper Meridith McColl tallied seven saves.
* - Senior 2-meter defender Wendy Watkins leads Stanford with 26 goals this season, followed by junior Hannah Luber with 24 scores.
MPSF Tournament:
* - Stanford has won three MPSF Tournament titles, second only to UCLA who has claimed four.
* - The Cardinal took first place in last year's conference tournament.
* - Stanford won consecutive titles in 2000 and 2001.
* - The Cardinal did not win the MPSF Tournament in 2002, but the squad went on to win the NCAA Championship that year.
* - For updates, visit Long Beach State's MPSF Tournament Central: www.longbeachstate.com.
MPSF Seedings
No. 1 USC
No. 2 Stanford
No. 3 UCLA
No. 4 SDSU
No. 5 LBSU
No. 6 California
No. 7 Hawaii
No. 8 SJSU
No. 9 UCSB
No. 10 UC Irvine
No. 11 Arizona State
No. 12 Pacific
CONFERENCE RANKINGS:
* - Stanford leads the league in scoring with 7.95 goals per game ... The Cardinal stand at No. 3 with 4.29 goals against per game.
* - Freshman goalie Meridith McColl is ranked No. 1 in the MPSF with 4.05 goals against per game and No. 8 with 5.95 saves per game.
* - In individual scoring, senior Wendy Watkins is No. 22 (1.24 goals/game), junior Hannah Luber is No. 24 (1.14) and freshman Katie Hansen is No. 35 (0.95).
THE TALE of TANNER:
* - John Tanner's squad has competed in the NCAA title match in each of the past three years of the Tournament's existence and has been ranked in the top-3 every season.
* - Last season, Tanner was named the 2003 MPSF Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season after guiding his squad to a first-place finish in the MPSF Tournament and a second-place finish in the NCAA Tournament ... The Cardinal wrapped up the season with a 21-3 overall record.
* - In 2002, he led the Cardinal to its first-ever NCAA Championship.
* - Was named the 1998 MPSF Coach of the Year in his first season with Stanford.
* - Tanner has been involved with United States Water Polo in various aspects from 1988 to the present.
* - Tanner competed on the Stanford men's water polo team from 1978-82 ... Was part of a team that garnered three national championships and earned All-America honors his senior year.