2017 MPSF Women's Water Polo Championships

UCLA Routs Stanford For 11th MPSF Polo Title

Full recap from Sunday at the 2017 MPSF Women's Water Polo Championship featuring the UCLA defeating Stanford, Arizona State defeating CSU Bakersfield, and USC defeating California. Rachel Fattal was the star for the Bruins team.

May 1, 2017 by Maclin Simpson

UCLA Routs Stanford For 11th MPSF Polo Title

Sunday marked some incredible action at the 2017 Women's MPSF Water Polo Tournament. Overall, the top seed and host UCLA prevailed but not without a fight through multiple rounds, including a comeback win against Cal Berkeley in Saturday's semifinals at Spieker Aquatic Center in Westwood, CA. With their title win, the Bruins will receive an automatic bid and the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament in May. Before we get to the final matchup, let's take a look at the other games that transpired Sunday.

5th-Place Game: #4 ASU def. #7 CSU Bakersfield 13-4

Arizona State will be on the bubble to make the NCAA tournament after winning this game. The Sun Devils got off to a fast start with PJ Allin, Maud Koopman, and Alkistis Benekou all getting a goal in the first three minutes of competition. ASU went on to score six goals in the first quarter and never looked back, achieving a fifth-place overall finish in the tournament.

	1	2	3	4	TOTAL
ASU	6	3	2	2	13
CSUB	2	1	0	1	4

3rd-Place Game: #3 USC def. #5 California 8-6

The third-place game featured a marquee matchup between No. 3-seeded Southern Cal and fifth-seeded Cal-Berkeley. The Golden Bears were coming off a huge game on Saturday, nearly knocking off top seed UCLA in a one-point loss. While the Trojans were able to claim an 8-6 victory on the heels of a fast start from Brianna Daboub, the game was tied through both the first and second frame. The deadlock didn't end until around three minutes were left on the clock, when USC's Ioanna Haralabidis put USC up 7-6. Hayley McKelvey scored the final goal to give USC a two-point lead, and the Trojans' defense held tight the rest of the way to capture third place in the tournament.

	1	2	3	4	TOTAL
USC	2	1	2	3	8
CAL	2	1	0	3	6

Championship Game: #1 UCLA def. #2 Stanford 6-3

UCLA ran away with a 6-3 victory over rival Stanford in a marquee No. 1 vs. No. 2 seed matchup. This was the Bruins' 11th overall MPSF title. Rachel Fattal was the standout in the game with a hat trick, accounting for half of UCLA's goals. The Bruins had an incredible defensive showing as well with 12 steals and held Stanford scoreless in the final 21 minutes of the game. The first frame, however, was tight with UCLA only attaining a 2-1 lead. Stanford's early press came from a goal by Danny Jackovich but was not enough to overcome a charging UCLA squad. The Bruins and the Cardinal will both advance to the NCAA tournament in May, with Stanford looking to avenge this loss.