Complete WWPA Tournament Coverage 

The Santa Clara women's water polo team (15-14 overall, 8-5 WWPA) will travel to Bakersfield, Calif. this weekend for the Western Water Polo Association Championships at the Hillman Aquatic Center on the CSU Bakersfield campus. The Broncos will look to repeat their success in the 2009 WWPA tournament when they reached the championship game for the first time in school history.

The Broncos were led in the regular season by junior Taylor Harkins and senior Jenny Knutson who scored 58 and 43 goals on the season, respectively. Knutson also posted excellent assist numbers, leading Santa Clara with 52.  Senior Rochelle Stowe followed with 31.  Senior Meg Zimmerman posted a team-high 47 ejections drawn while Whitney Allen earned 43 and sophomore Laura Espinosa finished with 42.

Wren White anchored the Broncos defensively throughout the regular season in the cage; she finished with 195 blocks. The Broncos were also led on the defensive end by Harkins and Caitlin Espe who each had 32 steals on the year. The Broncos received the fifth seed in the tournament and they will play the fourth-seeded host CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (16-19 overall, 8-3 WWPA), with whom they lost 13-12 in double overtime on April 11th at the Bronco Tournament in their only meeting this season.

If Santa Clara advances they would play in the semifinal game against the winner of a game between No. 1 seeded Loyola Marymount and either No. 8 CS San Bernardino or No. 9 CS Monterey Bay. Santa Clara will contend for an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, which will be held at the Aztec Aquaplex on the campus of San Diego State University from May 14-16.

The Seedings for the weekend are as follow:

1. Loyola Marymount

2. UC San Diego

3. Cal State East Bay

4. CSU Bakersfield

5. Santa Clara

6. Colorado State

7. Sonoma State

8. Cal State San Bernardino

9. Cal State Monterey Bay

10. Chapman

The Schedule for the Weekend:

Friday, April 30 Game Time Teams

Game 1 9:00 a.m. No. 7 Sonoma State vs. No. 10 Chapman

Game 2 10:20 a.m. No. 8 CS San Bernardino vs. No. 9 CS Monterey Bay

Game 3 1:00 p.m. No. 4 CSU Bakersfield vs. No. 5 Santa Clara

Game 4 2:20 p.m. No. 3 CS East Bay vs. No. 6 Colorado State

Game 5 3:40 p.m. No. 2 UC San Diego vs. Winner Game 1

Game 6 5:00 p.m. No. 1 Loyola Marymount vs. Winner Game 2

Saturday, May 1

Game Time Teams

Game 7 9:00 a.m. Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 1

Game 8 10:20 a.m. Loser Game 4 vs. Loser Game 2

Game 9 1:00 p.m. Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 4

Game 10 2:20 p.m. Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 3

Game 11 3:40 p.m. Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 6

Game 12 5:00 p.m. Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 5

Sunday, May 2

Game Time Teams

Game 13 9:00 a.m. Loser Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7

Game 14 10:30 a.m. Loser Game 12 vs. Loser Game 11

Game 15 Noon Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12

Game 16 1:30 p.m. Loser Game 9 vs. Loser Game 10

Game 17 3:00 p.m. Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 9