No. 1 UCLA Closes Out Regular Season at No. 4 USC

LOS ANGELES – No. 1 UCLA (20-0, 5-0 MPSF) concludes the 2024 regular season with a league game at No. 5 USC (17-5, 4-1 MPSF). The Bruins and the Trojans will square off on Saturday, April 20 at 2:00 p.m. at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. The game will be televised live on Pac-12 Los Angeles with Greg Mescall calling all of the exciting action. USC will provide live stats on the 6-8 Sports platform (link provided below).

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Opponent: No. 4 USC (17-5, 4-1 MPSF) | LIVE STATS | WATCH
Location: at Uytengsu Aquatics Center | Los Angeles, Calif.
Date: Saturday, April 20, 2024
Time: 2:00 p.m. PT
Series History: UCLA leads 53-40 | Streak: Lost 4
Last Meeting: L 9-14 (April 22, 2023 - MPSF Game - Spieker Aquatics Center - Los Angeles, Calif.)

ON DECK
Opponent: TBD - MPSF Championship Tournament
Location: at Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center | Bloomington, Ind.
Dates: Friday-Sunday, April 26-28, 2024
Time: TBD

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW
Top-ranked UCLA (20-0, 5-0 MPSF) remained undefeated on the year with a huge 7-6 road win at No. 5 California (13-5, 2-2 MPSF) on Saturday afternoon at Spieker Aquatics Complex. With the win, UCLA improved to 63-14 all-time against the Golden Bears. UCLA had just four different players score in the contest, paced by a hat trick from senior Malia Allen. She also added an assist to finish with game-high scoring honors for the Bruins with four points. Graduate student Brooke Doten chipped in two scores to become the only other multiple goal scorer for the Bruins. Graduate student Hannah Palmer and junior Molly Renner each scored three points (two assists and a goal). Steele got the start in the cage and went the distance, recording 20 saves (one off of her own UCLA freshman record of 21 in a win at No. 10 UC Irvine on Feb. 24). She and the Bruins' defense held California to a season-low-tying six goals.

STEELE SWEEPS WEEKLY MPSF AWARDS, AGAIN
UCLA freshman goalkeeper Lauren Steele (Old Greenwich, Conn./Orange Lutheran HS) has been 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 has been 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) has been 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) has been 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) has been 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 146-36 (.802) and an MPSF mark of 30-12 (.714). 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). 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 April 17.