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UCLA coach Adam Krikorian and the women’s water polo team enter the NCAA Tournament quarter

Lounged in a plush recliner seat in a Brentwood beauty shop, redshirt junior Kelly Rulon sits and enjoys getting a pedicure.

UCLA women’s water polo coach Adam Krikorian sleeps in one day every season. He drives down to Manhattan Beach while listening to Pearl Jam and has lunch with his wife.

Redshirt senior Thalia Munro packs her bag twice and runs through a mental checklist.

“I do a lot of visualization,” said Munro, who will be in search of her third championship ring when the Bruins head to Davis for the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

“Off the top of my head I can tell you who scored on me, how they scored on me, and I go over those things again like a checklist so this time, they don’t do it again.”

Members of the third-seed UCLA women’s water polo team have their own rituals, but they will all have one goal starting today in a first-round NCAA Tournament match with sixth-seed Hartwick: defending their national title.

Asked if he will conjure up a motivational speech, Krikorian shook his head.

“There’s nothing more that needs to be done,” he said. “Over the past month we’ve been on the same page. They’re motivated and they have the right attitude.”

If the Bruins (26-4) need any motivation for this weekend, they got it this past Saturday and Tuesday.

On Saturday, Krikorian and members of the women’s team watched the UCLA men’s volleyball team win its 24th national championship title. Krikorian hopes they can be next.

“The one thing (watching the men’s volleyball team win does) is provide inspiration,” Krikorian said. “I told them, ‘If you watch that final, you can see them playing with confidence and pouring with that attacking, aggressive attitude.’ That’s what we need to bring.”

If UCLA is to go on and successfully repeat as national champions, the team will have to go through Hartwick in the first round. This game would be followed by a likely matchup with second-seed Stanford and top-seed USC in the championship game.

The Bruins hold a 1-2 record head-to-head with the Cardinal (22-4) and split with the Trojans (25-2) after a 10-7 victory in the third-place MPSF Tournament game two weeks ago.

Many are considering this year’s tournament the most wide-open ever: USC strung together 25 straight wins and then dropped two games in a row to Hawai’i and UCLA.

Stanford went on to win the MPSF Tournament that same weekend.

“This year is closer than any year that I’ve seen before,” former Olympic coach Bill Barnett said.

The postseason has finally arrived, and Krikorian believes his team has finally come together. So today, on Saturday and then Sunday, the Bruins will do the same thing they’ve always done.

They will all wash their hands with the same bar of soap – the one they took from the Best Western hotel during their first road trip in Santa Barbara – for three more matches.

Munro will put on a brand-new cap.

Krikorian will be wearing his traditional blue adidas shirt, khaki pants and black sunglasses.

Rulon will warm up by swimming a 200 freestyle and one length each of breaststroke and backstroke.

It’s all about repetition and consistency.

They’ll think to themselves – same thing as last time – “national championship.