UCLA Advances in Water Polo

The top-ranked UCLA women’s water polo team kept alive its hope for an undefeated season with a 7-6 victory over Hawaii in the NCAA semifinals Saturday at Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Bruins (32-0) got three goals from sophomore Kelly Rulon, who also stole a breakaway pass with a minute to play to seal it as UCLA ran out the clock.

UCLA will play Stanford for the championship today at 1:30 PDT after the Cardinal prevented an all-Southern California final with a 5-4 victory over second-seeded USC, the defending national champion, in the other semifinal game.

Junior Kristina Kunkel scored the decisive goal for UCLA with 1:43 left after Hawaii’s Anna Sieprath had tied the score, 6-6, at 4:09.

The Bruins also got single goals from freshman Gabrielle Domanic, senior Natalie Golda and junior Thalia Munro. Rulon’s three goals gave her 70 this season.

USC (24-5) took a 3-2 halftime lead over Stanford, getting two goals from Moriah Van Norman and one from Eszter Gyori. But the Trojans went scoreless in the third quarter and the Cardinal took control.

The Cardinal led, 5-3, with 3:55 left when Hannah Luber scored her second goal of the game and held on from there.

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Senior right-hander Jimmy Shull threw a complete-game four-hitter and struck out five to lead Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to a 4-1 win over Long Beach State at Blair Field to even their key Big West Conference baseball series at a game apiece.

The loss left Long Beach (37-14, 12-5) two games behind conference leader Cal State Fullerton, but the 49ers trail by three in the loss column. The teams play next weekend at Fullerton.

“Our whole focus is always the league championship and so tomorrow is important,” Long Beach Coach Mike Weathers said. “We’ve got to keep within striking distance and with only one more series, it’s our last shot to win the championship.”

The victory moved Cal Poly (32-17, 10-4) to within 2 1/2 games of Fullerton.

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Judy DeVera and Carine Vermeulen prevailed, 7-2, in a tiebreaker to clinch the doubles point for host USC in a 4-0 win over Arizona State in the second round of the NCAA women’s tennis tournament.

At UCLA, Daniela Bercek was impressive in a 6-1, 6-3 win over Dea Simantri to lead the Bruins to a 4-0 win over Washington.

USC (18-3) and UCLA (17-5) will face each other Thursday at Athens, Ga., in the round of 16.

In another second-round match, Georgia Tech eliminated Pepperdine, 4-0, at Atlanta.

In the Division II championship, Brigham Young Hawaii had its 130-match winning streak ended in a 5-3 loss to Armstrong Atlantic State (Ga.), preventing the Seasiders from winning their fourth consecutive national title.

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Alex Slovic rallied for a 6-7, 6-2, 7-5 over Johan Berg to clinch a 4-3 win for Washington over USC in a second-round NCAA men’s tennis tournament match at Seattle.

In first-round matches, host UCLA was in control all afternoon in a 4-0 victory over Manhattan, and host Pepperdine rolled past UC Irvine, 4-0. UCLA today will play California, a 4-1 winner over San Diego State, and Pepperdine will play Stanford, a 4-0 winner over San Diego.