May 14, 2001
Complete Results and Statistics in PDF Format
SIX BEARS EARN MPSF HONORS: Six women's water polo players have garnered All-MPSF accolades, announced by MPSF Executive Director, Al Beaird. Leading the pack for the Bears is freshman standout Ericka Lorenz, who was named MPSF First team All-conference. Lorenz finished the year with a team-leading 44 goals on the year. The redshirt freshman scored hat tricks in six games and led the team in scoring 10 times. Lorenz, who won a silver medal with the US National Team at the 2000 Olympic Games, was also named to the MPSF All-Tournament First Team. Senior goalie Fana Fuqua and junior driver Brenna Fleener were both named MPSF second team All-conference. Fleener finished the year second to Lorenz with 40 goals, one goal better than her total from the 2000 season. Fleener finished the year with six hat tricks, and led the team in scoring seven times. Senior goalie, Fana Fuqua, finished her final season with 143 saves in 26 games, while allowing 117 goals. Fuqua finished the year with a 5.20 goals-against-average. Joining their teammates earning MPSF All-conference Honorable Mention are junior Julia Cesnik, and seniors Heather Petri and Beth Irwin. Irwin finished the year third on the team in scoring with 34 goals, while scoring three hat tricks and leading the team in scoring four times. Heather Petri, who also earned a silver medal with Lorenz in the 2000 Olympics for the US, was named co-captain with Fana Fuqua for the 2001 season. Petri ended the year with 21 goals. Julia Cesnik was fourth on the team in scoring with 30 goals on the year. Cesnik, who was also named to the MPSF All-tournament second team, led the team in scoring six times and tallied three hat tricks.
MPSF TOURNAMENT IN REVIEW: The Cal women's water polo team (17-9, 8-3 MPSF) ended their season after placing fourth in the MPSF tournament, April 27-29, held at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Bears got over their first hurdle when they defeated San Jose State, 8-4, on April 27, to advance to the Final Four. That would be their last win, however, as the Bears were taken down by No. 1 and undefeated Stanford in overtime, 6-4, April 28, before falling to No. 3 USC in the third-place match, 11-8, April 29. The Bears had two players, however, that garnered MPSF All-tournament selections. Freshman Ericka Lorenz earned First Team All-MPSF Tournament, while junior Julia Cesnik earned Second Team All-MPSF Tournament. The Bears wrap up a disappointing season in which they could not defeat one team with a higher ranking all season. Cal's nine losses on the season came at the hands of three teams: No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 UCLA, and No. 3 USC, each of whom defeated the Bears three times this year.
USC IN REVIEW: Cal finished its season with a fourth-place finish at the MPSF tournament in Hawaii. The Bears reached the tournament's quarterfinals after defeating San Jose State, 8-4, on April 27. Cal went up against undefeated Stanford, Saturday, April 28, only to lose 6-4 in overtime. Trying to salvage a third-place finish and possibly end the season with a victory, the Bears had to go up against No. 3-ranked USC. In their last two meetings, the Trojans defeated the Bears by identical 10-8 scores. The outcome would be a goal away from an identical three-peat, as USC would hand Cal an 11-8 defeat, sending the Bears home with a fourth place finish. Cal opened up the match by leading 1-0 after the first quarter. USC would take charge in the second quarter, scoring five goals to the Bears' two, and taking a 5-3 lead after the end of the first half. Cal would come out fired up in the third quarter, scoring three goals of their own, yet USC would almost match them goal-for-goal, scoring three more to take a 8-7 lead with one quarter remaining. The Trojans would continue their assault and outscore the Bears 3-1 in the fourth quarter to finish the game with an 11-8 victory. Ericka Lorenz led all Bears with three goals, while Brenna Fleener added two. Also contributing a goal were Heather Petri, Julia Cesnik and Julie Arnold. Fana Fuqua also recorded nine saves in the match.
LOOKING BACK: Cal finished the season with its lowest winning mark ever, as the Bears only grabbed 17 wins on the year. The reason may very well be due to the fact that the team only competed in 26 games on the year, while in the previous five seasons, competed in nearly 36 games per season, including 38 games played in 1996 and 1997. In addition, the Bears tallied their highest number of losses ever with 9 on the year. Previously, the highest number of losses came in 1997, when Cal finished with a 30-8 record, after losing to UCLA, 6-3, in the national championship game. The Bears 17-9 (65.0%) record this season is also the team's lowest winning percentage to-date. In the last five seasons, the Bears had an average winning percentage of 80.0%, including identical 27-8 (80.0%) records in 1999 and 2000. On a lighter note, the Bears tallied their only shutout of the season, and the second in school history, when they defeated UC Santa Cruz, 17-0, at the Spieker Aquatics Complex, Mar. 24. The only other shutout in school history dates back four years, when the Bears defeated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 21-0, at the Stanford Invitational, Mar. 8, 1997. In winning games this season, the Bears averaged 12.35 goals per game, while in losing games, the Bears averaged just 5.0 goals per game.
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