Publication Date: Friday, February 11, 2005
STANFORD ROUNDUP
Water polo hopes begin again for Cardinal women
Water polo hopes begin again for Cardinal women
(February 11, 2005) Baseball team plays host to three-game series with Kansas
by Rick Eymer
The Stanford women's water polo team won their final match of last season in the NCAA Final Four. Unfortunately, it was for third place and not for the championship.
In the realm of Cardinal water polo - men's or women's - second place is never good enough. The goal is always to finish on top.
"We are the only MPSF team to qualify for all four NCAA tournaments, which shows our consistent quality of teamwork," Stanford coach and Menlo-Atherton grad John Tanner said. "We return a talented nucleus from last year's team and our incoming freshmen should give us the ability to compete for the NCAA title."
Stanford, which begins the season ranked third heading into today's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation against visiting Hawaii at 3 p.m., reached the final of each of the first three NCAA tournaments. After losing just three seniors - two starters - to graduation, and injected with four quality newcomers, the Cardinal are setting their sights squarely on the national title.
"We finished last year at a very high level, and have a significant core of the team returning this season, including an exciting freshman class that will contribute immediately to the depth of our team," Tanner said. "We have a very close-knit team, and an extremely talented sophomore class who we expect to step up this year."
The Stanford Invitational at the Avery Aquatic Center should be a good indication of who's who in women's water polo this season. Top-ranked UCLA and No. 2 USC, the defending national champions, are entered.
Stanford opens play on Saturday at 9 a.m. against San Jose State. The Cardinal meet UCLA at 5 p.m.
"As always, we want to be a championship caliber team every day in how we practice, how we prepare for competition, and how we train," Tanner said. "That never changes from year-to-year. The fun part is that we have no idea what the end result will be."
Seniors Kelty Luber and Hannah Luber, yes they're twins, will share the leadership role and serve as team captains along with junior Scottie Scafer.
"They set a great example for the team, and with their combined talent they are poised to make a valuable contribution," Tanner said. "We have tremendous leadership."
Everything Stanford does both offensively and defensively will flow through the Luber twins. Hannah scored 28 goals last year and Kelty is one of the top defensive players in the nation.
"(Hannah Luber) has great intuition at two-meters, and is a regular scorer because of her strong two-meter play and her adeptness at capitalizing on 6-on-5 opportunities," Tanner said. "(Kelty's) explosiveness and long arms make her a very talented shot-blocker and tireless defender."
Junior Laurel Champion joins Shafer as a top driver.
"Laurel does a great job of looking out for everyone on the perimeter and at two-meters," Tanner said. "Scotti is a valuable player because she consistently finds ways to lose her defender on drives, and can be relied on for great counter-attack speed."
Sophomore Katie Hansenis another experienced driver. She played with the U.S. Junior National team this year.
Sophomore Meredith McColl returns to start in the net for the Cardinal. She averaged 5.7 saves per game last year, and gained even more experience with the U.S. junior team which recently won the gold medal at the Junior World Championships in Perth, Australia.
"We can count on Meridith for a solid and reliable performance in the goal," Tanner said. "She has definitely improved to be the cornerstone of our defense."
The team's top two-meter defenders include sophomore Christina Hewko, also a member of the U.S. Junior National Team, and junior Nancy El-Sakkary, former member of the Canadian Junior National Team.
Sophomore Alison Gregorka, member of the U.S. Junior National Team, sophomore Julia McKinney, and junior Val Riss, are also expected to make significant contributions to the defense.
Also contributing will be freshmen Jacquelyn Gauthier, Megan May, Megan Nesland, and Jenna Scalmanini.
"All four freshmen have the potential to develop into extremely versatile players for us," Tanner said.
Cal hosts the MPSF Championships at the end of April, and Michigan hosts the NCAA Championships May13-15.
Men's tennis
Seventh-ranked Stanford (4-0) welcomes Arizona today at 1 p.m. after sweeping visiting St. Mary's, 7-0, on Tuesday.
Arizona State visits on Saturday at noon.
The Cardinal have been tough to beat so far as senior Sam Warburg, the nation's fourth-ranked singles player, owns a 7-1 mark against ranked opponents, and junior KC Corkery, ranked 15th, and senior Phil Sheng have each won their singles matches in all four dual meets this year.
The Cardinal's three doubles teams have combined for a 14-1 record so far.
Women's golf
Stanford shot a final round of 307 at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, Calif., to finish 12th overall with a three-day score of 929. Pepperdine won the tournament at 896.
Junior Kelly Husted led the Cardinal with a 25th-place showing with a three-round total of 229.
Field hockey
Stanford had four players selected for the Northern California Elite Performance Training Center.
Madison Bell, Julia Drewes, Aska Sturdevan and Jessica Zutz qualified after participating in Open Trials on Saturday.
Field hockey
Stanford is looking to receive a bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.
"Last year was a really important year for our program in order to keep improving," Stanford coach Michelle Uhlfelder said. "I'm proud of last year's team because of the level of play that we attained. A lot of the things that we were doing well didn't show up on the scoreboard. Overall, we lost three one-goal games, and those contests were against very good teams. Those games are emotionally taxing. I give our team a ton of credit for coming back game after game, and putting tough losses and disappointment behind them."
Uhlfelder owns a 47-25 career mark with the Cardinal, including last year's 9-9 mark.
Stanford returns 13 players, including senior midfielders Kelsey Twist and Nina Pantano at midfield, juniors Sarah Bach and Megan Burker as attackers.
Burker ranked second on the team with 30 goals, and was named to the All-Conference team for the second straight season.
Junior Sarah Bach and sophomore Michelle DeChant join Burker in the Cardinal attack.
Junior midfielder Nyerr Parham saw action in 17 games last season. Sophomores Jessica Verrilli and Liz Piselli also played last year.
Junior Thea Lorentzen adds experience on defense while junior Kinsey Morrison has played sparingly due to injuries. With sophomore Bryanne Gilkinson redshirting the upcoming season, plenty of freshmen will see playing time.
Junior Kate Horowitz will get the starting nod in the goal after appearing in eight games last year. Sophomore Carly Posner and freshman Laura Shane are also on the roster.
Other newcomers include Daphne Patterson, Alicia Soto, Amanda Soto, transfer Rebecca Milo, Katherine Fox, Bri Ned, Rachel Dyke, Megan Mclain, and Anna Brown.
Senior Nicole Barnhart, an All-American Goalkeeper on the Stanford women's soccer team, will play her first year of varsity lacrosse.
Softball
Stanford hosts the Stanford Invitational beginning today. The sixth-ranked Cardinal (3-1) meet San Diego (5-0) today at 5 p.m.
The tournament continues through Sunday and also includes Kentucky (0-5), DePaul (3-2), No. 21 Long Beach State (4-1) and Cal Poly (5-2).
Women's gymnastics
Stanford visits Arizona for a match today at 7:30 p.m.
The 20th-ranked Cardinal recorded a season-high 194.675 at Central Michigan last Friday.
Stanford ranks in the top-26 in three events: No. 18 on beam (48.325), No. 23 on floor (48.583), and No. 26 on bars (48.275).
Freshman Liz Tricase is third in the nation on bars, with an average score of 9.900.
Baseball
Stanford hopes Sunken Diamond proves friendly again as the sixth-ranked Cardinal hosts Kansas in a three-game series beginning today at 5 p.m. First pitch on Saturday is 1 p.m. and 11 a.m. on Sunday.
Stanford (4-2) is 3-0 on home this season and has won 41 of its last 46 contests overall, as well as 11 straight regular season series, dating to April 25-27, 2003.
The Cardinal remained sixth in Baseball America's poll despite losing two of three to defending national champions Cal State Fullerton last weekend.
Chris Minaker leads the team in batting average (.400), runs scored (12) and hits (10).
Men's volleyball
Stanford hopes to regroup today when it squares off with visiting Pacific in Burnham Pavilion at 7 p.m.
The Cardinal (2-6, 3-8) dropped from No. 10 to No. 11 in the latest USA Today/AVCA poll.
Wrestling
Stanford defeated visiting Cal Poly, 23-14, on Wednesday night as Nathan Peterson and Matt Gentry each recorded major decisions.
Stanford (6-7-1) hosts UC Davis on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Burnham Pavilion in the final dual meet of the season.
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