April 2, 2002
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BACK IN BERKELEY: The Bears are back in Berkeley for the first time in nearly a month this weekend, following a 3-1 road trip in which Cal took on some of the nations premier collegiate water polo teams. Most recently, the Bears split a SoCal road trip, nearly doubling up UC Santa Barbara, 9-5 before falling to No. 2 UCLA, 8-4. This week, three teams will challenge Cal's near-perfect record at Spieker Aquatics Complex, with Loyola Marymount, Cal State-Northridge and Long Beach State paying a visit to Berkeley. The latter two matches will count towards the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings, which become increasingly important as the regular season enters its final month.
ABOUT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT: The 14-3 Lions are ranked No. 6 in the nation entering this week of competition. Loyola Marymount recently had its seven-match winning streak snapped by No. 5 San Jose State in a 7-5 thriller at home. The Lions are led on offense by Ludy Windes, who is averaging nearly two goals a game with a grand total of 33 scores this season. Devon Courtney holds down the fort in the net, having saved 136 shots versus allowing 78 scores in 2002. The last time that Cal and Loyola Marymount faced each other, Brenna Fleener scored a hat-trick, leading the Bears to a 9-3 victory at the UC Santa Barbara tournament last year.
ABOUT CAL STATE-NORTHRIDGE: The Matadors are 3-13 (0-7) in their first-ever season of women's water polo play. CSUN is led by Melissa Hall and Katie Roth, who have score 16 and 11 goals, respectively, in their team's inaugural campaign. This is the first meeting between the Bears and Cal State-Northridge.
ABOUT LONG BEACH STATE: The seventh-ranked 49ers are coming off a huge upset victory over the No. 5 San Jose State squad, and boast a 10-7 (3-3 MPSF) record entering the week. Roberta Stewart paces LBS on offense, having netted 33 scores in the team's 17 matches this season. Defending the net for the 49ers is a rotation of Amanda Wightman and Bri Hawkins, who have combined for 107 saves, while only allowing 86 goals. The last time that the 49ers and Bears met, Brenna Fleener came up big for Cal, dropping four goals on Long Beach, leading the Bears to a 11-2 trouncing of the 49ers.
LAST WEEK AGAINST UC SANTA BARBARA: California opened the game with a goal 16 seconds into the match, which instigated a 4-0 run by the Bears. At the end of the first half the Bears were ahead 5-2. The second half began much as the first, as the Gauchos was unable to stop the Bears. UCSB was down 8-3 at the end of the third period, as Cal scored three goals in the third. Cal's Ericka Lorenz, Julie Arnold, Cara Chlebicki, and Julia Cesnik all scored twice, and Lindy Spieker add one more. Mary Blumberg netted two goals for the Gauchos, while Ricks, Teresa Gorbett, and Lezak all recorded a single score in the losing effort for the Gauchos.
LAST WEEK AGAINST UCLA: On Saturday, the Bears lost their first match out of their last six, falling to UCLA, 8-4. For Cal, Brenna Fleener, Jodie Needles, Julia Cesnik and Ericka Lorenz each netted a goal. Lauren Dennis had 11 saves for Cal in the losing effort. The two teams hung close in the first half, with Cal emerging with a 3-2 lead in the second quarter. The second half showed a much different story however, as the Bruins were able to capitalize on six goals, to the Bears solo score. Cal was overpowered by a balanced offense which featured six goal scorers, much like the Bears' own scoring efforts.
