Water polo wins in Hawaii, prepares for Cal

Stanford women’s water polo dominated this weekend as it faced off against the University of Hawaii late Sunday afternoon in Hawaii, winning 10-6.

“Playing far away wasn’t a big deal — it just got us ready for the long weekends that we have ahead of us for MPSFs and NCAAs,” said junior goalkeeper Amber Oland.

Although Hawaii is far away, the team had no problem adjusting and playing well in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) match.

“Playing in Hawaii is always a blast,” said sophomore driver Pallavi Menon. “Besides the beach and amazing weather, UH usually brings a crowd when they have home games — it was a really fun environment to play in.”

Stanford began the game strongly as it led 4-1 by the end of the first quarter. By halftime, the Cardinal was ahead 6-3 and would keep the lead until the end of the match.

“The team played great,” Oland said. “We came out hard getting a 4-1 lead and maintaining that lead for the game. We have to keep this up though if we want to continue to win, especially with our last two games being against Cal and USC.”

“We played as a unit on Sunday, both offensively and defensively, which I feel played a huge role in our success,” Menon said. “We also started the game with fire and determined the tempo of the game through all four quarters.”

Senior driver Kelly Eaton smashed an impressive four goals into the net. Freshman two-meter Annika Dries skipped in a total of three goals. Junior driver Kim Krueger, Menon and sophomore two-meter Melissa Seidemann tacked on a goal apiece. Oland had a whopping nine saves.

“It was good to win on the road, especially traveling that far,” Dries said. “Knowing we can stay focused will be key to the major tournaments later.”

Stanford is still undefeated in MPSF play and is ranked No. 2 in the nation.

“This match will definitely help us reach our goals of doing well in the MPSF and NCAA Tournaments,” Menon said. “Hawaii is a physical, fast team, and it’s always beneficial to have good competition.”

This match will prove to be great preparation for upcoming away tournaments.

“This game has helped not only our preparation for both tournaments, but showed that we can go on the road and still pull off the win,” Oland said.

“While the distance did not bother me in particular, it is quite a different feat to be able to play well as a team on the road,” Krueger said. “I think we did well adjusting to the conditions and coming out as the aggressor even though we were the visiting team.”

“As for improvements, it is exciting to see that at this point in the season, the things we need to fix are mostly small errors that we can remedy with practice and preparation,” Krueger added.

This week, following the victory, two players were recognized by the MPSF. Eaton was given the honor of MPSF Player of the Week while Dries has been named MPSF Newcomer of the Week.