W. water polo not just treading water during time off

Published: Thursday, February 29, 1996

Team practices two times a day, injured enjoy needed rest

By Mark J. Dittmer

Daily Bruin Contributor

The UCLA women's water polo team still has nine days of rest before its next match on March 8 in Stanford. But, different people have different definitions of rest.

The No. 1 Bruins see rest as a time where they practice twice every day.

"I think we get a lot done in practice," head coach Guy Baker said. "I think we make a lot of progress as a team during this time period. I enjoy it."

The Bruins hope not only to improve, but to see a lot of their injured players get back to full strength. Stephanie Natcher, Jenn Cady and Molly Barnes are injured players that have already seen action this season; the layoff should especially benefit them.

That is not to say that the three of them have been struggling with their injuries so far. Natcher has six goals this season and Barnes has three in three attempts. Cady, returning only two games ago, has already made an impact by scoring once and passing well in the win over USC.

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The Bruins welcome back freshmen Coralie Simmons, Mandy McAloon and Catherine von Schwarz, who were gone for an entire week trying out for the U.S. junior national team. All three of them made the team.

"I'm really excited," Baker said. "They went (to the tryouts in Colorado) expecting to make it, and I'm happy that they did make it."

International experience is nothing new to von Schwarz or Simmons. Von Schwarz played on the junior national team last summer, and Simmons played on the national team. This year, they hope to do both.

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Most coaches agree that statistics are not very important, but it is interesting to see the impressive stats UCLA has piled up. The Bruins have made 80 percent of their shots this season, led by Simmons, who has scored 16 goals in 17 attempts. She is scoring four goals a game, more than some entire teams score.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Nicholle Payne has kept her goals-against average at 3.13, more than two goals a game lower than her average last season, when she was named an All-American.Comments to webmaster@db.asucla.ucla.edu