UCLA’s women’s water polo team won the school’s 101^st national title May 10, defeating Southern California, 6-3, at Stanford’s Avery Aquatics Center. The women’s water polo team has won four consecutive titles – UCLA’s 96^th, 99^th, 100^th and 101^st.

The Bruins finished the season undefeated (33-0). Seniors Gabrielle Domanic, Brittany Rowe, Courtney Mathewson, Jillian Kraus and Kamaile Crowell won national titles in each of their four seasons of competition.

UCLA relied on its defense to defeat the Trojans (21-8) in the title game, allowing the Trojans to  score on just two of 12 power-play opportunities in the game. The Bruins capitalized on their own 6-on-5 matchups, scoring twice on power plays in the first period.

UCLA jumped to a three-goal lead off scores from Tanya Gandy, Mathewson and Domanic before Southern California’s Veronika Bartunkova scored her 50^th goal of the year with less than two minutes to go in the first.

But the Bruins’ defense was relentless, with big performances from Rowe in the net and junior Katie Rulon, who blocked a power-play shot. Their offense added two more goals to make the  score 5-1 at the half.

The Trojans’ defense picked up in the second half, and Southern California was able to take advantage of a power play to make the score 5-2 in the final minutes of the third period.

UCLA rallied again to go up by four in the fourth off a key steal from Rulon that led to a goal from Priscilla Orozco.

Southern California answered just 45 seconds later with a power-play goal from Miranda Nichols, but neither team scored in the remaining five minutes of the game. Trojan Coach Jovan Vavic said letting UCLA get out to a strong lead made it much more difficult for the team to pull out a win.

“It’s really tough when UCLA gets a lead on you,” Vavic said. “Last night (against Stanford in the semifinals) we hit some incredible shots. But tonight we didn’t. This is a great accomplishment for this young team. I guarantee you we will be back next year.”

Gandy, who scored five goals in the last two games of the tournament, received most outstanding player honors.

Stanford won the third-place game in its home pool with a 15-8 win over UC Davis. The Cardinal scored its first goal just 15 seconds into the game, and the Aggies answered just a few seconds later. But Stanford jumped out to a 5-1 lead and never looked back.

“This obviously was not the best game we’ve played this year, but you really have to tip your hat to Stanford. They came out aggressively, attacking in front of the goal,” said UC Davis Coach Jamey Wright. “As difficult as this game was to look at, it doesn’t minimize how great the season was for us. I’m so proud of all the effort and the work they’ve put in this year.”

Fifth-place game

San Diego State          3          2          2          5—12

Michigan                     1          1          5          2—9

San Diego State scoring: Anna Gonzales 3, Erinn Greenwood 3, Jenna Schuster 3, Jessica Pace-Bowers, Danielle Pelke, Becca Ur.

Michigan scoring: Sharayah Hernandez 3, Carrie Frost 2, Terri Bukofzer, Julie Hyrne, Cara Reitz, Leah Robertson.

Saves: San Diego State (Heather Fenske) 8. Michigan (Brittany May) 7.

Semifinals

Southern California     1          3          2          4—10

Stanford                      1          2          1          2—6

Southern California scoring: Alexandra Kiss 3, Michelle Stein 3, Veronikia Bartunkova, Forel Davies, Kally Lucas, Sarah Van Norman.

Stanford scoring: Kelly Eaton, Jacquelyn Gauthier, Kira Hillman, Megan May, Lauren Silver, Heather West.

Goalie saves: Stanford (Amber Oland) 7. Southern California (Tumua Anae) 11.

UCLA             1          2          6          2—11

UC Davis        1          1          1          1—4

UCLA scoring: Tanya Gandy 3, Courtney Mathewson 3, Anne Belden 2, Katie Rulon, Gabrielle Domanic, Kelsey McGinley.

UC Davis scoring: Laura Uribe, Mary Lowe, Lindsay Kimaya, Emily Kitchens.

Saves: UCLA (Brittany Fullen) 6. UC Davis (Casey Hines 10, Diana Pivacek 1) 11.

Third-place game

UC Davis        3          2          0          3—8

Stanford          6          4          2          3—15

Stanford scoring: Heather West 3, Kelsey Holshouser 3, Jacquelyn Gauthier 2, Koree Blyleven 2, Lauren Silver 2, Kelly Eaton 1, Kim Krueger 1, Kira Hillman 1.

UC Davis scoring: Lindsay Kiyama 2, Casie Mota 2, Jessica Soza 1, Christi Raycraft 1, Madeline Stephenson 1.

Saves: Stanford (Amber Oland) 10. UC Davis (Casey Hines) 3.

Championship game

Southern California     1          0          1          1—3

UCLA                         3          2          0          1—6

Southern California scoring: Veronika Bartunkova, Michelle Stein, Miranda Nichols

UCLA scoring: Tanya Gandy 2, Courtney Mathewson, Gabrielle Domanic, Anne Belden, Priscilla Orozco.

Saves: Southern California (Tumua Anae) 8, UCLA (Brittany Fuller) 6.