What's Ahead

No. 3 Stanford (15-2, 1-0) makes its 2016 television debut when it hosts No. 6 Arizona State (12-4, 1-1) in MPSF action at Avery Aquatic Center on Saturday, March 26 at 11 a.m. Kevin Danna and Chris Dorst have the call on Pac-12 Networks.

Looking Back

Stanford is coming off a pair of road wins over No. 10 UC San Diego (11-5) and No. 13 UC Santa Barbara (16-5). Against the Tritons on March 20, Shannon Cleary, Katie Dudley, Dani Jackovich and Jordan Raney led the charge with their two-goal games, while Madison Berggren, Jamie Neushul and Gurpreet Sohi each added scores of their own. Julia Hermann faced 28 total shots, 16 on frame and made 11 saves, her fifth game in double figures this season. Two days later against the Gauchos, Katie Dudley scored a career-high five goals and the Cardinal broke the game open with 10 second-half tallies to win in Santa Barbara.

MPSF Pick

Stanford collected 32 points and three first-place votes to top the 2016 MPSF Women’s Water Polo Coaches’ Poll, which was released by the conference on Jan. 7. USC was tabbed second with 31 points and three first-place votes while UCLA was third with 29 points and one first-place vote. California, Arizona State, San Jose State and CSU Bakersfield rounded out the preseason picks. The Cardinal has not lost an MPSF game since 2009, a stretch of 40 straight regular season conference outings. Its last league loss came at USC on April 18, 2009 (11-6).

Seeing The Stats

Stanford finds itself leading the MPSF in goals per game (13.11), ahead of USC (12.43) and UCLA (11.50), and fourth in goals allowed per game (5.29) behind USC (4.64), Arizona State (5.06) and Cal (5.09). Individually, Jamie Neushul leads the Cardinal and is fourth in the conference in goals per game (1.88). Two-time MPSF/Kap7 Newcomer of the Week Kat Klass is fifth (1.82), Anna Yelizarova is 13th (1.47), Gurpreet Sohi is 16th (1.35) and Dani Jackovich is 24th (1.18). Julia Hermann’s 5.55 goals against average is seventh in the conference and her 8.39 saves per game are seventh. She was named MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week on Feb. 23 after making 21 total saves and allowing just five goals in two wins at the Davis Shootout against UC Davis and Brown.

Olympic Qualifying

On March 9, Stanford’s Makenzie Fischer, Kiley Neushul, Melissa Seidemann and Maggie Steffens were named to the USA Water Polo Women’s National Team roster that will take part in the 2016 Olympic Qualification Tournament. The tournament, which starts March 21 in Gouda, Netherlands, is Team USA’s one and only chance to qualify for this summer’s Olympic Games. A top-four finish is required to punch a ticket to Rio.

Rewind To 2015

The Cardinal won 25 games for the ninth consecutive season in 2015 and made history by becoming the first host institution to win the NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championship. The national crown was the fifth in program history and the Cardinal’s fourth in the past five seasons.

We got our rings and said goodbye to our 2015 team last night. Feeling lucky to have been a part of such an amazing group and looking forward to making new memories this upcoming season! Stanford Stanford Stanford! 🌲🌲❤️❤️

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Water Polo (@stanfordwwaterpolo) on Nov 15, 2015 at 10:30am PST

World University Games

Stanford had an early start to building a cohesive unit heading into this season. Over the summer, the Cardinal represented the United States at the World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea. After going 1-2-1 in pool play, the U.S. went 2-1 in its final three games to come in fifth out of the 10-team field. Jamie Neushul led the U.S. at the World University Games in goals, scoring 18 (2.6 per game) and freshman Kat Klass joined her in double figures rattling the cage 11 times (1.6 per game). Defensively, Raney contributed five field blocks in South Korea, while Cassidy Papa and Shannon Cleary added four each. Gabby Stone and Jamie Neushul had nine steals apiece, Dani Jackovich added seven and Kat Klass five.

Junior Worlds

Stanford All-Americans Jamie Neushul and Jordan Raney helped the United States repeat as FINA Junior World Champions with an undefeated run to the title in Volos, Greece in August. Team USA outscored its opponents 106 to 46 over the six games, which were capped with a 13-10 victory over Spain in the championship. Neushul, who served as captain for the United States, scored 14 goals, including three hat tricks, while Raney, the reigning MPSF Newcomer of the Year, added six.

In The Polls

Stanford remained third in the national rankings (92 points), behind No. 1 USC (100 points) and No. 2 UCLA (96 points) in this week’s CWPA Women’s Varsity Top 20 Poll. Hawaii (88 points) and UC Davis (80 points) round out the top five.