Top-Seeded UCLA Faces Wagner in NCAA Quarterfinals

BERKELEY, Calif. – No. 1 UCLA (23-0, 6-0 MPSF) opens play at the 2024 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship in the quarterfinals against 17th-ranked Wagner (30-4, 12-0 MAAC) on Friday, May 10 at 12:00 p.m. PT at California's Spieker Aquatics Complex. The game will be streamed live on NCAA.com. California will provide live stats on the 6-8 Sports platform (links provided below).

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Opponent: No. 17 Wagner (30-4, 12-0 MAAC) | LIVE STATS | WATCH
Location: Spieker Aquatics Complex | Berkeley, Calif.
Date: Friday, May 10, 2024
Time: 12:00 p.m. PT
Series History: UCLA leads 5-0 | Streak: Won 5
Last Meeting: W 7-5 (Jan. 21, 2023 - UCSB Winter Invitational - UCSB Campus Pool - Santa Barbara, Calif.)

UCLA IN THE NCAAs
This is UCLA's 22nd appearance in the NCAA Championship and 28th overall Championship appearance. The Bruins have won 11 national titles, seven of which are NCAA Championships. UCLA enters the 2024 NCAA Championship with an all-time record of 42-14 (.750) in NCAA Tournament games. Last year the Bruins opened up the 2023 NCAA Championship with a 14-12 win over UC Irvine before falling to the eventual National Champions, Stanford, 14-9.

RECAPPING THE LAST MEETING WITH WAGNER
Freshmen Taylor Smith and Anna Pearson, sophomore Emma Lineback and junior Malia Allen each scored two goals to lead the No. 3 UCLA women's water polo team (3-0) past 15th-ranked Wagner (3-1), 14-7, in the second game of the UCSB Winter Invite on Saturday afternoon at UCSB's Campus Pool. A total of 10 Bruins got into the scoring column in the victory with sophomore Nicole Struss scoring her first goal of the 2023 season. Redshirt senior Georgia Phillips got the start in goal and registered a season-high nine saves while allowing four goals. Junior Sydney Chiang played the second half in the cage, tallying four saves while surrendering three scores.

RECAPPING THE 2024 MPSF CHAMPIONSHIP
Top-seeded UCLA won its first league title since 2017 with a 10-4 win over fifth-ranked USC in the semifinals and a 13-10 win over third-ranked California in the finals of the 2024 MPSF Women's Water Polo Championship. UCLA had six different players score in the contest against the Trojans, paced by a season-high and career-high-tying five goals from graduate student Hannah Palmer. No other Bruin scored more than one goal, but senior Malia Allen registered four points (one goal and three assists), and freshman Becca Melanson tallied three points (all assists). Freshman goalkeeper Lauren Steele got the start in the cage and played all but the final 3:16 of the fourth quarter, recording 17 saves while giving up just three goals. Senior Sydney Chiang closed out the game and recorded two stops while surrendering one score. In all, the Bruins' defense held USC to a season-low four goals, including holding the Trojans to 0-for-8 on power plays. UCLA won its 12th MPSF Championship in program history, and its first since 2017, with a 13-10 win over No. 3 California (17-6) on Sunday afternoon at Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center. With the win, UCLA improved to 64-14 all-time against the Golden Bears. UCLA had eight different players score in the contest, which was double what the Bruins had last time out against the Golden Bears. The Bruins were paced by hat tricks from senior Malia Allen and sophomore Taylor Smith. Both players added an assist to finish with game-high scoring honors for the Bruins with four points.  Graduate student Hannah Palmer joined the pair in game-high scoring honors with four points (two goals and two assists).Freshman Lauren Steele got the start in the cage and played the majority of the game, recording 14 saves and one steal while surrendering nine goals. Senior Sydney Chiang came on in relief for the final 1:41 of the fourth quarter and allowed one goal.

TWO BRUINS EARN MPSF CHAMPIONSHIP HONORS
UCLA freshman goalkeeper Lauren Steele (Old Greenwich, Conn./Orange Lutheran HS) was named the MPSF Tournament MVP as announced by the league office on April 30. Additionally, Steele and graduate student attacker Hannah Palmer (Irvine, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS) were both named to the 2024 MPSF All-Tournament Team (a school can only have a maximum number of two on the All-Tournament). Steele accumulated 31 saves through two wins to help the Bruins win their first MPSF Championship since 2017. She hauled in 17 saves while giving up just three goals for an incredible .850 percentage against No. 4 seed USC in the semifinal. Steele then collected 14 saves (.609) and one steal in the championship game vs. No. 2 seed Cal. Steele represents UCLA's seventh MPSF Tournament MVP award (Rachel Fattal-2017, Caitlin Dement-2012 & 2010, Courtney Mathewson-2008, Kelly Rulon-2007, and Natalie Golda-2005). Palmer led the Bruins in scoring with nine total points (seven goals and two assists) in the two tournament wins. She opened with a season-high and career-high-tying five goals (on six shots) against the Trojans and then scored four points (two goals and two assists) against the Golden Bears. Palmer also added one steal, one field block, and won her only sprint against California and also registered one field block against USC.

BRUINS EARN NINE MPSF POSTSEASON AWARDS
Six different Bruins received nine postseason honors from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, as announced by the conference office on April 24. The awards were highlighted by freshman goalkeeper Lauren Steele (Old Greenwich, Conn./Orange Lutheran HS) being selected as the 2024 MPSF Newcomer of the Year, and by Bruin Head Coach Adam Wright being named the 2024 MPSF Coach of the Year.

Steele collected 192 regular season saves (11.92 SPG) with a remarkable .636 save percentage, while also scoring seven goals of her own. On Feb. 24 at No. 10 UC Irvine, Steele tallied a Bruin freshman record 21 saves (.808), the most by a Bruin goalkeeper in 14 years. In the title game of the Kalbus Invitational that weekend, she hauled in 16 saves (.640) in a 15-9 win over No. 2 Hawai'i, en route to sweeping MPSF Delfina Player and S&R Sport Newcomer of the Week honors. Steele totaled seven such weekly awards, capped off by two huge MPSF road wins over top-five teams to help UCLA finish an unbeaten regular season. She recorded 20 saves at Cal and 12 at USC, while helping limit each of those opponents to season-low scoring totals of six and five goals, respectively. Steele, the only freshman on either of the first two All-MPSF teams this year, is UCLA's third MPSF Newcomer of the Year recipient (Maddie Musselman, 2017; Rachel Fattal, 2013).

Wright led the Bruins to their first unbeaten regular season since 2008 with a 21-0 overall record (6-0 MPSF) and a top seed in the MPSF Tournament. More than half (11) of UCLA's wins came against nationally-ranked top-10 opponents, while seven of those were against the top-five. UCLA has held its opponents to single-digit goals in 11-straight games entering the postseason, and in 17 of the 21 regular season games overall, while scoring double-digits in all but three. The Bruins placed five players on this year's All-MPSF teams. This is Wright's first MPSF Coach of the Year honor on the women's side.

Sophomore utility Anna Pearason (Irvine, Calif./Orange Luthern HS) was the only Bruin to be named to the Delfina All-MPSF First Team. Pearson was on the MPSF All-Newcomer Team a year ago. Three Bruins landed on the Delfina All-MPSF Second Team. Those student-athletes included graduate student attacker Hannah Palmer (Irvine, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS), sophomore attacker Taylor Smith (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor HS), and Steele. For Palmer, it marked the third All-MPSF honor after being on the First Team in 2021 and the All-Newcomer Team in 2020. It was Taylor's second league honor as she was named to the MPSF All-Newcomer Team in 2023. Freshman utility Panni Szegedi (Budapest, Hungary/Kolping Katolikus Iskola) was the lone Bruin to receive Delfina All-MPSF Honorable Mention accolades. A pair of Bruin freshmen were on the MPSF All-Newcomer Team, which included Steele and Szegedi.

STEELE NAMED MPSF/S&R SPORT NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
UCLA freshman goalkeeper Lauren Steele (Old Greenwich, Conn./Orange Lutheran HS) was named the MPSF/S&R Sport Newcomer of the Week as announced by the league office on April 23. Steele collected 12 saves, while she and the Bruin defense allowed another season-low to their opponent of five goals, in a 7-5 regular season-ending win at No. 4 USC (Apr. 20). She also picked up one steal against the Trojans. UCLA finished off its first undefeated regular season since 2008 at 21-0. This is the conference-high seventh MPSF weekly award for Steele.

STEELE SWEEPS WEEKLY MPSF AWARDS, AGAIN
UCLA freshman goalkeeper Lauren Steele (Old Greenwich, Conn./Orange Lutheran HS) was named the MPSF/Delfina Player of the Week and the MPSF/S&R Sport Newcomer of the Week as announced by the league office on April 16. Steele helped lead the Bruins to an important 7-6 road win at No. 5 California (Apr. 13) with 20 saves, which was one shy of tying her own UCLA freshman record and MPSF season-high of 21 (Feb. 24 at No. 10 UC Irvine). Steele and the Bruins' defense held the Golden Bears to a season-low-tying six goals, giving her a save percentage of .769. Top-ranked UCLA improved to 20-0 on the year and 5-0 in the MPSF. These are the fifth and sixth career MPSF weekly awards for Steele.

STEELE NAMED UCLA STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK, PRESENTED BY READY
Freshman Lauren Steele of UCLA Women's Water Polo was selected the UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by Ready, for the week of April 8-14. The first-year goalkeeper helped lead the Bruins to an important 7-6 road win at No. 5 California on Saturday, April 13, with 20 saves, which was one shy of tying her own UCLA freshman record of 21 (set on Feb. 24 at No. 10 UC Irvine). She and the Bruins' defense held the Golden Bears to a season-low-tying six goals. She had a save percentage of 83.3 percent (Cal shot 6-for-35). Top-ranked UCLA improved to 20-0 on the year and 5-0 in the MPSF. She has 180 saves on the year and has started all 20 games in goal for the Bruins. Steele secures her first-career UCLA student-athlete of the week award.

BRUINS SWEEP WEEKLY MPSF AWARDS, AGAIN
The UCLA Bruins swept the MPSF weekly honors as senior attacker Malia Allen was named the MPSF/Delfina Player of the Week and freshman goalkeeper Lauren Steele was tabbed the MPSF/S&R Sport Newcomer of the Week as announced by the league office on April 2. UCLA went 1-0 during the week with a 15-8 win over No. 3 Stanford on Senior Day in the home finale at Spieker Aquatics Center on Saturday, March 30 to improve to 19-0 on the year and 4-0 in the MPSF. Allen (Irvine, Calif. / Foothill HS) scored a career-high six goals and dished three assists for a career-high nine points on her Senior Day in Westwood. Allen also drew two exclusions and had one steal and one field block in UCLA's second largest margin of victory all-time over Stanford. Steele (Old Greenwich, Conn. / Orange Lutheran HS) recorded 10 saves, two goals (on two shots), and two steals against the Cardinal. She scored twice in the final 39 seconds of the first half to give the Bruins the lead for good. The outcome was UCLA's largest margin of victory over Stanford since 1998, and kept the Bruins unbeaten on the year with a crucial conference win.

SZEGEDI NAMED MPSF/S&R SPORT NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK FOR THE FOURTH TIME
UCLA freshman utility Panni Szegedi (Budapest, Hungary/Kolping Katolikus Iskola) was named the MPSF/S&R Sport Newcomer of the Week as announced by the league office on March 19. Szegedi tied for the team lead in scoring with five goals in two ranked home wins, 10-6 over No. 14 Princeton (Mar. 16) and 16-8 over No. 17 San Jose State (Mar. 17). Szegedi scored once against the Tigers and then had a career-high four goals (on four shots) against the Spartans. She added two steals and won her only sprint against Princeton, and had one steal and won her only sprint versus SJSU. This is the fourth MPSF weekly award for Szegedi.

STEELE SWEEPS WEEKLY MPSF AWARDS
UCLA freshman goalkeeper Lauren Steele (Old Greenwich, Conn. / Orange Lutheran HS) was named the MPSF/Delfina Player of the Week and the S&R Sport Newcomer of the Week as announced by the league office on Feb. 27. Steele went 4-0 in the cage as the Bruins' starting goalkeeper against three ranked teams at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational over the weekend helping the Bruins win the title and remain undefeated on the year at 14-0. She racked up a total of 47 saves (14.5 saves per game) while sporting a 6.77 goals against average in her four appearances in goal. While starting every game, she played just the first quarter in the lopsided win over Cal State Fullerton, making one stop while allowing two goals. She went the distance in each of the next three games, recording a UCLA freshman record of 21 saves in the quarterfinal win over No. 10 UC Irvine, holding the Anteaters to just five goals. It marked the most saves by a Bruin since Caitlin Dement had 22 against UC Davis in 2010. In the semifinal win over No. 4 Stanford, she made nine stops while holding Stanford to just six goals. In the title game, she was credited with 16 saves in the Bruins' 15-9 win over No. 2 Hawai'i. She also had two steals and one assist during the tournament. These are the second and third career MPSF weekly awards for Steele.

TAYLOR SMITH NAMED MPSF/DELFINA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
UCLA sophomore attacker Taylor Smith (Newport Beach, Calif. / Newport Harbor HS) was named the MPSF/Delfina Player of the Week as announced by the league office on Feb. 20. Smith led the Bruins in scoring with six points on a season- and career-high five goals (on seven shots) to go with one assist in top-ranked UCLA's 14-12 victory over No. 7 Arizona State to open MPSF play on Saturday, Feb. 17. She also added two steals and drew one exclusion in the Bruins' only game of the week. UCLA improved to 10-0 on the year and 1-0 in the MPSF. This is Smith's second career MPSF award and first Player of the Week honor.

SZEGEDI NAMED MPSF/S&R SPORT NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK FOR THE THIRD TIME
UCLA freshman utility Panni Szegedi (Budapest, Hungary/Kolping Katolikus Iskola) was named the MPSF/S&R Sport Newcomer of the Week as announced by the league office on Feb. 13. Szegedi scored two goals on two shots in top-ranked UCLA's 16-5 lopsided victory over No. 8 UC Irvine in its home-opener on Saturday, Feb. 10. It marked the most goals scored and was the largest margin of victory for the Bruins over the Anteaters since 2017. She also won both of her sprints and added one assist in the Bruins' only game of the week as UCLA improved to 9-0 on the year. This is the third career MPSF weekly award for Szegedi, including a repeat of the last two weeks.

SZEGEDI NAMED MPSF/S&R SPORT NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK AGAIN
UCLA freshman utility Panni Szegedi (Budapest, Hungary/Kolping Katolikus Iskola) was named the MPSF/S&R Sport Newcomer of the Week as announced by the league office on Feb. 6. Szegedi scored seven goals (tied for the team lead), registered four assists, four steals, won four sprints and drew two exclusions to help the Bruins win the Triton Invitational (Feb. 2-4). Szegedi opened with a hat trick in the win against California Baptist. She then scored on her only shot and won her only sprint in the victory over No. 14 Arizona State. In the semifinal win over No. 4 Hawai'i, she scored twice, including the final goal in regulation to send the game into overtime. She added three steals, three sprints, one earned exclusion and one assist against the Rainbow Wahine. In the championship vs. No. 5 Fresno State, she scored once and added three assists, one steal, and drew one exclusion. This is the second career MPSF weekly award for Szegedi, including a repeat of the last two weeks.

BRUINS SWEEP WEEKLY MPSF AWARDS
The UCLA Bruins swept the MPSF weekly honors as sophomore utility Anna Pearson was named the MPSF/Delfina Player of the Week and freshman utility Panni Szegedi was tabbed the MPSF/S&R Sport Newcomer of the Week as announced by the league office on Jan. 30. UCLA went 1-0 this past week with an 18-10 win over No. 14 UC Davis in its only countable game at the California Cup on Saturday (Jan. 27) to help the Bruins remain undefeated at 4-0 on the year. Pearson (Irvine, Calif. / Orange Lutheran HS) led the team and tied her career high with five goals (on seven shots) against the Aggies. She also drew a team-high three exclusions. Szegedi (Budapest, Hungary / Kolping Katolikus Iskola) scored the first hat trick (on five shots) of her collegiate career against UC Davis. The freshman did a little bit of everything, winning all three of her sprints, drawing one exclusion, and recording a game-high four steals. It marked Pearson's third and Szegedi's first career MPSF award of their respective careers.

STEELE NAMED MPSF/S&R SPORT NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
UCLA freshman goalkeeper Lauren Steele (Old Greenwich, Conn./Orange Lutheran HS) was named the MPSF/S&R Sport Newcomer of the Week as announced by the league office on Jan. 23. Steele went 3-0 in the cage as the Bruins' starting goalkeeper against three ranked teams at the UCSB Winter Invitational over the weekend. She racked up a total of 17 saves (10.0 saves per game) while sporting a 5.88 goals against average in her three appearances in goal. While starting every game, she led the team in steals with five as she played just over half of the 12 quarters (6.8) in the cage and then played in the field, where she finished tied for fourth on the team in scoring with three goals (on six shots). She had five saves while pitching a shutout in the first period in the win over No. 25 Marist. She followed that with eight saves, three steals, and her first collegiate goal in the win over No. 10 UC San Diego in 29:50 of action in goal. In the win at No. 12 UC Santa Barbara, she played 16:38 in the cage, making four saves and two steals while allowing just four goals. She also scored twice (on two shots) against the Gauchos. This was Lauren Steele's first career MPSF award.

PEARSON IS LONE RETURNING ALL-AMERICAN FROM 2023
Sophomore utility Anna Pearson is the only Bruin All-American back for the 2024 season. She earned Honorable Mention accolades after finishing second on the team in scoring with 46 goals. First Team All-American center Ava Johnson, graduated, as did Second-Teamer, utility Katrina Drake. Junior attacker Emma Lineback and sophomore utility Sienna Green both earned Honorable Mention plaudits and both will miss the 2024 campaign to train for a spot on the National Teams of their respective countries, USA and Australia, for the Olympic Games.

TWO MORE ALL-AMERICANS RETURNING
But while only one player is back this season that earned All-America acclaim in 2023, the Bruins return two more players that have achieved All-America status in their respective careers. Junior attacker Molly Renner earned Honorable Mention honors in 2022 and was eighth on the team last year in scoring with 25 goals (56 in her career). Graduate student Hannah Palmer has decided to use her free COVID year and return for a fifth season after earning Second-Team All-America honors in 2021. The attacker was 10th on the team last year in scoring with 20 goals (93 in her career).

RETURNING ALL-MPSF SELECTIONS
While five of the Bruins' seven All-MPSF selections from a year ago are either gone or using an Olympic year, two players return from the 2023 season that received postseason accolades from the league office. Both are sophomores in utility Anna Pearson and attacker Taylor Smith, who was seventh on the squad in scoring with 30 goals.

TENDING GOAL
The Bruins have five goalkeepers on the 2024 roster that will be vying for playing time and three of them saw action last season. Leading the charge will be senior Sydney Chiang, who played in eight games (starting six times) while going 6-0 on the year. Sophomore Izzy Rosensitto made one appearance on the year while junior MJ Bailey also played in one game. Looking to make an immediate impact will be two true freshmen goalkeepers in Joey Niz (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos HS) and Lauren Steele (Old Greenwich, Conn./Orange Lutheran HS).
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The Bruins will be a fairly young team in 2024 with 11 true freshmen and six sophomores on the roster. That is a total of 17 of the Bruins' 26 student-athletes (65.4 percent) on the roster with only one year or less of collegiate experience. The 11 freshmen include the two aforementioned goalies, as well as center Dania Innis (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte HS), attackers Elektra Urbatsch (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day School), Becca Melanson (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny HS), Helene MacBeth (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente HS), Camille Greenlee (Carlsbad, Calif./The Bishop's School), and Alexsa Gimenez (Commerce, Calif./Downey HS), and utilities Natasha Kieckhafer (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic HS), Olivia Ouellette (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos HS), and Panni Szegedi (Budapest, Hungary/Kolping Katolikus Iskola).
 
OUTNUMBERED BUT MIGHTY
UCLA will have nine players on its 2024 roster that are either juniors, seniors or graduate students. Three graduate students are using their free COVID year to play in 2024 and they include attackers Fiona Kuesis, Hannah Palmer, and Brooke Doten. The Bruins also have three seniors on the roster that includes goalkeeper Sydney Chiang and attackers Anneliese Miller and Malia Allen. While junior Emma Lineback is taking an Olympic year, three other juniors return in 2024 that includes goalkeeper MJ Bailey, attacker Molly Renner, and utility Nicole Struss.

WRIGHT ON DECK
Adam Wright is in his seventh season as UCLA's head women's water polo coach in 2024 with an overall record of 149-36 (.805) and an MPSF mark of 31-12 (.721). He won his 100th game at the helm of the women's program with a 9-8 victory at No. 4 California (Mar. 5, 2022). Top-seeded UCLA won its first league title since 2017 with a 10-4 win over fifth-ranked USC in the semifinals and a 13-10 win over third-ranked California in the finals of the 2024 MPSF Women's Water Polo Championship, which marked the first MPSF Championship for the Bruin women in the Wright era. On July 20, 2017, then-UCLA Director of Athletics, Dan Guerrero, announced that Wright would guide both the UCLA men's and women's water polo teams.
 
RECAPPING 2023
Overall Record: 21-8 (.724) | MPSF Record: 4-2 (.667) | Final Ranking: 3rd | NCAA Finish: T-3rd | MPSF Tournament Finish: 4th

UCLA finished the season at 21-8 overall and 4-2 in the MPSF in 2023 in head coach Adam Wright's sixth season at the helm of the program. Five Bruins earned All-America acclaim on the year. Graduate center Ava Johnson headlined the list of Bruin selections as UCLA's lone First-Team honoree. Graduate utility Katrina Drake was the only Bruin to earn Second-Team honors. The remaining three Bruins earned Honorable Mention All-America accolades, which included sophomore attacker Emma Lineback and a pair of freshmen utility in Anna Pearson and Sienna Green.

UCLA IN THE CWPA POLL
The Bruins remained steady at No. 1 in the 2024 CWPA National Women's Varsity Top 25 Poll (100 points), released on May 8.