Who’s on top? Head Coach Adam Wright\u2019s UCLA squad features 11 freshmen and seven sophomores. The youthful Bruins\u2014led in scoring by sophomore Anna Pearson<\/strong> (17 goals) and freshman Panni<\/strong> Szegedi<\/strong> (13)\u2014took wins this weekend from Hawai\u2019i and Fresno State\u2014the latter a 10-8 win Sunday to give UCLA\u2019s its first Triton Invitational crown since 2020.<\/p>\n The annual Barbara Kalbus Invitational, to be held February 23 \u2013 25 at UC Irvine, might again scramble the polls as the nation\u2019s top teams compete in the season\u2019s best non-conference tournament.<\/p>\n 1) UCLA (8-0; 0-0 MPSF); With four wins in San Diego, the Bruins showed who\u2019s boss\u2014for now. At the Kalbus Invitational Stanford, USC and Cal will look to bring down their MPSF rival.<\/p>\n Minette Rubin \/ UCLA Athletics<\/p><\/div>\n 2) Hawai\u2019i (8-1; 0-0 Big West); The Rainbow Wahine\u2019s highest-ever ranking in the CWPA poll is well earned; the only blemish on their record was an overtime loss Saturday to UCLA. Sunday\u2019s 10-6 win over USC not only gave Hawai\u2019i third place at the Triton Invitational, it also snapped a 27-match losing streak to the Trojans.<\/p>\n 3) Fresno State (8-3; 0-0 GCC); By virtue of a second-place finish in San Diego, the Bulldogs moved up to the program\u2019s highest-ever ranking. It\u2019s been a fantastic season-opening run for coach Natalie<\/strong> Benson<\/strong>\u2019s squad; program-first wins over Stanford and USC, both when they were the nation\u2019s No.\u00a0 1 team. The only question mark is a 10-7 loss Friday to GCC rival Loyola Marymount.<\/p>\n 4) Stanford (6-2; 0-0 MPSF); \u201cI told you so\u201d comes to mind now that the Cardinal are rising up the polls. Five straight wins\u2014including a win last weekend vs. Cal\u2014means Stanford is primed for a third-straight NCAA title.<\/p>\n 5) Cal (5-1; 0-0 MPSF); The Golden Bears stumbled against Stanford, dropping an overtime decision to the host Cardinal. UC-Davis is up next week away as a tune-up for the Kalbus Invitational.<\/p>\n 6) USC (4-2; 0-0 MPSF); A rare stumble by the Trojans; the last time USC lost two matches in a row was 2015 when UCLA and Stanford beat them in the MPSF tournament.<\/p>\n 7) Arizona State (7-1; 0-0 MPSF); A 13-8 loss to UCLA last Saturday relegated the Sun Devils to the fifth-place match in San Diego, which they captured with a win over Michigan. This weekend, coach Petra<\/strong> Pardi<\/strong> welcomes four visitors\u2014 UC Santa Barbara, Marist, San Jose State and Ottawa-Arizona\u2014to Tempe.<\/p>\n 8 (T) Michigan (6-5; 0-0 CWPA); The Wolverines split their matches in San Diego, including a big win over UC-Irvine. A weekend off before a local tournament at Indiana\u2014where they will not face the host Hoosiers.<\/p>\n 8 (T) Princeton (1-2; 0-0 CWPA); Slow start for the Tigers; they\u2019ll host Villanova this week and then Mount St. Mary\u2019s, San Diego State, Siena, Wagner and Ivy rival Harvard come to Princeton next weekend.<\/p>\n 8 (T) UC-Irvine (4-4; 0-0 Big West); A seventh place finish in San Diego might disappoint Anteater fans. Before UCI hosts the nation\u2019s best, they’ll face UCLA this weekend and USC next.<\/p>\n Loyola Marymount Athletics<\/p><\/div>\n 11) Loyola Marymount (9-2; 0-0 GCC); The Lions stayed put at No. 11 but this placement doesn\u2019t acknowledge a big win this weekend over Fresno State\u2014as well as LMU\u2019s best start since the 2011 season, when they went 29-6 and just missed NCAAs.<\/p>\n 12 (T) UC-Santa Barbara (7-3; 0-0 Big West); A split at the Triton included a one-goal win in the 11th place game against host UC-San Diego. Arizona State is up this weekend at the ASU Invitational.<\/p>\n 12 (T) Long Beach State (4-3; 0-0 Big West); The Beach returns to San Diego this weekend for two matches at San Diego State. A 2-2 record and a final day loss at the Triton Invitational landed LSB in tenth place.<\/p>\n 14 (T) UC-San Diego (6-4; 0-0 Big West); Three defeats in their own tournament\u2014included one-goal losses to Arizona State and UC Santa Barbara at the beginning and end of their weekend\u2014dropped the Tritons out of the Top 10.<\/p>\n 14 (T) UC-Davis (1-9; 0-0 Big West); A tournament opening win over The Beach broke a winless season but three losses extended the Aggies painfully slow start. UC-Davis does not catch a break this weekend, opening its own invitational against Stanford.<\/p>\n![\"ucla-water-polo\"](\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/UCLA-700x500.jpg\")
![\"loyola-marymount-water-polo\"](\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/LMU_WP-700x500.jpg\")