Been There, Done That: UCLA Is in Title Game

UCLA, the two-time defending NCAA women’s water polo champion, will be in a familiar circumstance today at USC’s McDonald’s Swim Stadium.

The Bruins (34-1) got three goals from Coralie Simmons in a 10-3 win over Hawaii on Saturday to advance to the tournament finals, where they will meet California.

Again.

UCLA beat the Bears in the finals the previous two years.

California, which is third-seeded, set up its finals rematch by getting three consecutive goals in the fourth period from Alisa vonHartitzch in an 8-4 win over second-seeded Stanford.

VonHartitzch finished the game with four goals.

Cal (27-5) is the only team to beat UCLA (34-1) this season. The Bears had beaten Stanford in last season’s semifinals to advance to a finals game against UCLA.

In other games, USC (21-16) beat No. 7 Massachusetts (30-5), 8-4, to advance to a fifth-place game against No. 8 UC Santa Barbara (17-17).

The Gauchos beat San Diego State, 9-8, on Kara Watkins’ goal 43 seconds into sudden death after they had blown a 6-4 lead they held midway through the third quarter.