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Sophomore driver Kelly Rulon and the UCLA women’s water polo team continue to bash their co

W. polo: Women’s water polo works to stay motivated

Despite recent victories, team still worried about becoming complacent

Vincent Lim
Published: Tuesday, April 5, 2005

With the start of the postseason less than a month away, UCLA women’s water polo coach Adam Krikorian acknowledged that he is concerned about his team’s state of mind, despite a pair of victories over UC Irvine, 14-4, and Arizona State, 12-0, this past Thursday and Saturday, respectively. Because of the Bruins’ much-publicized success in the pool this season, Krikorian admitted he still worries about his team becoming too complacent and possibly losing an important game late in the season or during the postseason. “I worry about it all the time,” Krikorian said. “It’s been difficult for the girls to keep motivated.” Like her coach, sophomore driver Kelly Rulon, who led the top-ranked Bruins (22-0, 7-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) with four goals in Thursday’s game against the Anteaters, stated that she also worries about the team becoming apathetic and failing to play up to its abilities. “You always worry about it,” Rulon said. “You can’t get too complacent, because when you get complacent, you’ll be unprepared against a Stanford or a USC.” But in both conference games the Bruins removed any doubt of lackadaisical play, shutting out the Sun Devils this past Saturday and marking the first time that Arizona State has failed to score a goal in its program’s history. JUMPING OUT OF THE BOX: The Bruins, who have only seldom been tested in matches this season, credit their ability to strike early as the foundation for their success. In the games against UC Irvine and Arizona State, the Bruins outscored their opponents 6-1. Over the course of the season, UCLA has hammered its opponents in the opening period by an astounding 81-16. “We try to come out strong every time,” freshman utility Monique Blanchard said. “But it’s more expected for us to come out strong against top teams.”

UP NEXT: The Bruins began their five-game road trip on a positive note, shutting out Arizona State. UCLA is now looking ahead to its much-anticipated game against No. 3 Stanford on April 15. The Cardinal gave the Bruins a close call back on Feb. 12 in Stanford, losing to UCLA 6-5.