April 8, 2010
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara women's water polo team continues its 2010 season this weekend, hosting eight teams for "The Bronco" tournament this weekend at the Sullivan Aquatic Center.
The Broncos will play Saturday at 10:30 a.m. against Colorado State and at 3:30 p.m. versus No. 7 Loyola Marymount. On Sunday, Santa Clara takes on No. 20 Cal State Bakersfield at 10:30 a.m. and Sonoma State at 4:45 p.m.
Also attending the tournament is No. 17 UC San Diego, No. 6 San Jose State, Cal State San Bernardino, and No. 3 California. A full schedule for the weekend's games can be found by clicking here.
All four opponents the Broncos face are Western Water Polo Association teams and could be potential opponents in the WWPA tournament just three weeks from now. Santa Clara is currently third in the conference standings at 12-11 overall and 5-3 in conference. LMU tops the conference at 19-2 overall and 5-0 in the WWPA. Sonoma State is bringing up the bottom at 5-21 overall and 3-8 in conference play. Cal State Bakersfield (13-17, 5-3) and Colorado State (8-14, 3-3) rest in the middle of the standings.
The Broncos last played nearly two weeks ago, going 2-2 at the Arizona State Invitational. Santa Clara defeated Concordia and California Baptist but fell to the host No.7 Sun Devils and No. 5 Hawai'i. Junior Taylor Harkins scored 11 goals on the weekend.
Harkins continues to lead the Broncos in goals scored with 46. Following closely behind is senior Jenny Knutson with 35. Knutson also has a team-leading 42 assists. Junior Caitlin Espe tops the team in steals (28). Sophomore Laura Espinosa has drawn the most ejections (35) while senior Meg Zimmerman and junior Whitney Allen each have 34. Junior goalie Wren White was 149 blocks on 305 shots-on-goal, 14 steals, and nine assists.
The Bronco Tournament marks the beginning of a six-game home streak that will close out the 2010 regular season. On April 17 and 18, Santa Clara will play their final home matches against Cal State East Bay and Cal State Northridge. The WWPA Championships is set for two weekends following that, held from April 30-May 2 at Cal State Bakersfield.
