April 26, 2012
Watch Saturday and Sunday's Championship Bracket Games
STANFORD, Calif. - Top-ranked Stanford women's water polo will play host to the MPSF Championship this Friday through Sunday, April 27-29 at Avery Aquatic Center.
Ticket information, schedule, live score reporting and a link to video streams of Saturday's semifinals as well as Sunday's third-place game and championship final are available on the MPSF Championship Central link above.
All-session passes for the tournament are priced at $30 for adults and $15 for students, youths and seniors. Single-day passes are priced at $12 (adult) and $5 (students, youths, seniors).
For Friday's action, the first 50 Stanford students will be granted free admission. Students must present their SU ID cards for the free admission.
Saturday's semifinals (at 2:30 and 4 p.m.) as well as Sunday's Third-Place Game and Championship Final (at 2:30 and 4 p.m., respectively) will be streamed live HERE.
The Cardinal (21-1, 7-0 MPSF), the draw's top seed, will take on eighth-seeded Hawai'i in the tournament opener at 11 a.m. Friday. A win would send the Cardinal into the semifinals at 2:30 p.m. Saturday to meet the winner of Friday's game between No. 4 Arizona State and No. 5 California.
The Cardinal goes for its fifth MPSF Championship, having previously won the draw in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2006.
Stanford brings both the MPSF's top-ranked offense and defense into the tournament, averaging 12.50 goals a game while allowing just 4.64 goals a game.
The Cardinal is led offensively by a well-rounded attack that features a pair of 40-goal scorers in freshmen Kiley Neushul (46 goals) and Ashley Grossman (40 goals) as well as senior drivers Alyssa Lo (29), Cassie Churnside (25) and Pallavi Menon (18) along with sophomores Kaley Dodson (24) and Kaitlyn Lo (23).
On the other side of the pool, the defense is anchored by junior goalie Kate Baldoni who leads the conference with a goals-against average of 4.49 and is second with 9.94 saves per game.
Friday's opponent, Hawai'i (10-12, 0-7 MPSF), has won five of its past eight heading into this weekend's tournament. The Rainbow Wahine are led offensively by Amarens Genee (50 goals, 2.27 goals per game) while on defense goalie Serena Reid averages 7.33 saves a game and owns a goals-against average of 7.71.