Water polo loses in semis

By Cecile Nguyen

Although they had hopes of winning the championship, the women's water polo team finished in fourth place at the Western Water Polo Association Conference finals after losing the third place game to UC San Diego 7-5.

"We didn't win the conference -- that was our main goal," said senior team captain Katie Radvanyi. "But overall, we had a great season. We went into the conference with the mindset to win. We were a team to beat."

The women, who entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed, earned a bye through the first round.

In their first game of the tournament, the Broncos were led by three goals from sophomore Claire Linney. The women easily defeated the San Bernardino Coyotes 9-6 and advanced to the next round.

"We had good teamwork," Linney said. "The team played well overall. The team worked hard."

In their second match of the weekend, the Broncos lost a close semifinals match to No. 8-ranked Loyola Marymount. The Lions, who trailed by three goals heading into the fourth quarter, scored in the waning seconds of the game and defeated the Broncos 5-4.

"Even though we lost to LMU, it was one of the best games we played as a team," said Linney. "It was special and was a big step for the program."

The Broncos fell to the No. 15 UC San Diego Tritons 7-5 in the third place game.

Santa Clara led that game 3-2 in the second quarter, but lost the lead when the Tritons scored three consecutive goals to secure the victory.

"It was definitely a tough loss after beating them consistently," said sophomore driver Brianna Anderson. "We knew going into the game it would be tough, but it's always tough losing."

The women finished the season with two losses but remained positive about the season.

"It has been an interesting season. It's been a bit more up and down than last year," Wilbur said. "We've played a tougher schedule, and more teams ranked in the top 20 this year, and, consequently, we have more good wins."

Wilbur believed that playing a tough schedule was critical to the team's overall success.

"I think that's a good thing because the more tough games a team plays the better they are," said Wilbur.

At the University of California, Irvine, tournament in February, the Broncos endured two tough losses at the hands of No. 7 San Diego State and UCLA, then the No. 1 team in the country.

The Broncos were able to bounce back from their early losses to win their last two games against UC San Diego, a conference rival, and Long Beach State, both in sudden death overtime.

"Bouncing back to beat UC San Diego and Long Beach were big wins," said Radvanyi. "It showed our character to be able to have two tough losses, then two huge wins," she added.

Wilbur also said that one critical component in the wins was having a balanced offensive attack.

"From that point forward, we've played good water polo, and we knew what we were capable of," added Wilbur.

As for next year, the Broncos are expecting another strong season.

"We're going to have a strong team next year," Linney said. "It's a big loss with five seniors leaving, but we have people to step up and take on the role."

Contact Cecile Nguyen at cnguyen5@scu.edu