No. 16 women's water polo looks for upset wins
By Mike Kaufmann
When the Santa Clara women's water polo team makes the trek to University of California at San Diego this weekend for the conference championships, the rest of the Western Water Polo Association will be on the lookout.
Perennial powerhouses Loyola Marymount and UC Davis are well aware of Santa Clara as the Broncos have posted their best regular-season record since becoming a varsity sport in 1999 by finishing 23-7. The hosting San Diego team will be especially aware of the up-and-coming Bronco program as the Tritons lost to the Broncos for the first time in school history on April 9.
"Beating UC San Diego was a huge lift for us because not only did we get the third seed in the tournament, but we gained a lot of confidence after that game," said senior captain Alanna Simpkins. "They are always a top team and it felt great to finally beat them."
The third seed is the highest that Santa Clara has ever received. The Broncos enter the tournament ranked 16th in the nation and will receive a first-round bye. In the second round, the Broncos will play the winner of Colorado State and Sonoma State.
Much of the Broncos' success this season can be attributed to the two senior captains, Simpkins and Lindsey Bacolini, who lead the team in scoring and do their part to keep the team together, however, the two seniors are the first to redirect any praise to their teammates.
"We really are a team in the full sense of the word," said Bacolini, who transferred to Santa Clara from Hartwick College in New York after her sophomore year. "We all get along well, and as a team, we just have so many different players that can beat you."
Bacolini and Simpkins both agreed that balance was the best word when describing this year's team. With a roster that includes several key contributors from each class, it appears as if their description is fairly accurate.
"We're just solid all the way around. You can't just shut one player down because everybody gets involved," head coach Keith Wilbur said. "We added some talented freshmen to the strong group of players that were coming back and I knew we were going to have a lot of depth and speed."
The added depth has helped the Broncos, who have won 12 out of their last 13 games, to finish the season strong. The lone loss came in overtime against Loyola Marymount, the No. 1 seed in the WWPA Tournament and No. 5 in the nation.
Such well-defined success is new territory for the Bronco program. During Wilbur's first year, the Broncos were 18-20 and were seeded 6th in the WWPA Tournament. The Broncos saw slight improvements during Wilbur's second year at the helm, and improved to 21-16, earning a fifth seed in the conference tournament. Last season, the Broncos slipped a little bit before triumphantly making their way to the spotlight this season.
"Everything has slowly been building and a lot came together this year," said Wilbur. "I always believed that it takes about four years for a coach to establish himself, because that's when you've coached or recruited every girl on the team."
While Wilbur conceded that LMU and UC Davis are certainly the favorites going into the conference tournament this weekend, he pointed out that this was the first year that he believed his Broncos have a good shot at bringing home the title. And the team feels the same way.
"Our goal from the very beginning of the year was to make it to the championship game in the WWPA Tournament," said Bacolini. "Once you get to the championship, anything can happen. We know we have the talent; we just have to go out there and play our game."
Regardless of where they finish this weekend, the women's water polo program is beginning to define itself as one of the elite teams on the West Coast. They hope that after this weekend, more of their opponents will realize their sizable talent.
Contact Mike Kaufmann at (408) 551-1918 or mlkaufmann@scu.edu.