Water Polo Splashes into the Final Four

After finishing second to top-seeded USC 8-6 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship on November 30, the No. 2 men’s water polo team (21-4) received the at-large bid to the NCAA Final Four, which was held at Stanford December 6-7. Leading Cardinal scorer Tony Azevedo, ’04, had three goals in the loss to USC, which ended the team’s 13-game winning streak. Results from the NCAAs will be published in the next issue of STANFORD.

A Fast-Breaking Start to the Season

As basketball season got underway, the No. 6 women’s team was on a tear, winning five straight games and defeating No. 10 Georgia, 61-59, thanks to 3-point shooting by Kelley Suminski and Susan Borchardt, both ’05. Two freshmen—6-foot-5 Kristen Newlin and 5-foot-6 walk-on Markisha Coleman—were also bringing the crowd to their feet. The No. 20 men’s team opened its season 3-0, with victories over Sacramento State, UC-Irvine and Rice. Junior forward Josh Childress was sidelined with a deep bone bruise, but sophomore point guard Chris Hernandez was back from last year’s foot injury and connecting on layups and three-pointers, scoring a career-high 22 points against Irvine.

For Volleyball, an NCAA Berth

The women’s volleyball team entered the NCAAs in early December seeded fifth, with a 23-6 regular-season record. “We’ve fought our way through one of the tougher schedules in the nation to prepare for NCAAs,” head coach John Dunning said at press time, prior to the tournament. Named to the all-Pac-10 squad were junior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani, who was averaging a team-high 5.9 kills per game; senior middle blocker Jennifer Harvey, who was leading the team in service aces with 33; and freshman Kristin Richards, who was also named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year.

Soccer Stumbles at the Finish

Playing without its top forwards, seniors Brittany Oliveira and Marcie Ward, the women’s soccer team (10-9-2, 5-3-1 Pac-10) lost in the first round of the NCAAs to ninth-seeded Santa Clara, 1-0. “There were lots of talented players on the field,” head coach Paul Ratcliffe said after the defeat. The men’s squad began the season ranked sixth nationally, but quickly crumbled, finishing with a 3-15-2 record and without a single Pac-10 victory. The final blow came at the hands of Cal, 1-0, on November 15. “I felt like we gave away some balls and they really took advantage of those chances,” head coach Bret Simon said afterward. The squad will look to rejoin the nation’s top teams next year, with the return of several skilled freshmen and juniors.

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