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Junior Katherine Belden and other Bruin starters from last season have had to adapt to their new

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As the undefeated UCLA women’s water polo team continues to roll along toward a perfect season, some of the best players in the world continue to make sacrifices.

A reduction in playing time and relegation to the bench have been the fate of almost all of last season’s starters, a core group that led the Bruins to a third-place finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament but failed to make the NCAA Tournament.

Yet, UCLA coach Adam Krikorian feels that these players have continued to maintain a positive attitude.

“I think they’ve coped well,” Krikorian said. “They’ve handled it with a lot of maturity and class. They are competitors and they all want to play. I have a lot of respect for that. At the same time I think naturally they’ve been a little frustrated, but the most important thing is that they’ve never openly displayed that. Those frustrations have never taken away from our ultimate goal as a team.”

With this season’s Bruins (24-0, 9-0 MPSF) boasting four Olympians in the starting lineup, players like Kristina Kunkel, Katherine Belden and Molly Cahill, the top-three scorers and starters from last season, have had to adjust to this year’s team. As a result, none of the three are among the Bruins’ top-six scorers.

“It’s a great team and my role has changed just because the players that are here are very, very talented,” said junior center Kunkel, who was the captain and leading scorer with 44 goals on last year’s team. “But, our entire bench can play and we can still be successful so I’m not worried about playing every minute of each game.”

Cahill, who was UCLA’s second-leading goal scorer last season with 38 goals and played the position of a driver, has accepted her new role as a defender on the team, and she epitomizes the unselfish attitude that has driven the team to success.

“She’s a great example of the type of people and the type of players that I have on my team and what I ask them to do,” Krikorian said. “If I ask them to do it, it’s because it’s going to help our team be successful and Molly has accepted that role and that’s been a big reason for our success this season.”

The other player who Krikorian feels is setting a positive example for her teammates is Belden, who was the Bruins’ third-leading goal scorer last season with 33 goals but has received limited playing time this season.

“She misses playing a lot,” Krikorian said. “But they all see the bigger picture and the ultimate goal we want to accomplish as a group. The most important thing for Katherine is to help this team to a championship. I think she’ll be the first to say that.”

To her credit, Belden further stated she genuinely respects returning Olympians Natalie Golda, Thalia Munro, Kelly Rulon and Gabrielle Domanic, who have taken up the majority of the playing time in the pool this season as well as enthusiastically helped other players on the team improve their game.

“They don’t condescend us,” Belden said. “They’re positive. They’re constructive. It’s like we have four other coaches (on our team).

“And I love winning. That’s one of the main reasons I came here.”

While it may have been difficult for Kunkel, Belden and Cahill to adapt to their new roles, they have all embraced them. Players like Munro understand what these players are going through and have adamantly stated how each player has an important role on the team.

“I have so much respect for every single one of my teammates that doesn’t play, that does play, that comes in practice, because they are making me the player that I am, and they are making this team what it is,” Munro said. “It isn’t just six players that’s built this team this year, it’s due to every single one of these players this season.”

KERR RETURNS: After suffering from a concussion in the beginning of the season, which has resulted in mild migraines, junior goalie Tahlia Kerr was cleared to practice this week and will make the trip up to Northern California this weekend.

“She was day-to-day,” Krikorian said. “But, she’s feeling good now and it’s good to have her back.”

With reports from Bryan Chu, Bruin sports senior staff.