49ers Host UC San Diego on Saturday
No. 5-Ranked 49ers Look to Improve on 3-1 Start
February 9, 2005 National Leaderboard
49ERS HOST HOME OPENER ON SATURDAY: The No. 5-ranked 49er women's water polo team (3-1), fresh off of winning three of four at last week's Triton Classic, will host UC San Diego (1-3) on Saturday at the campus pool at noon. Both teams played in La Jolla this past weekend. Two of UCSD's losses last week were by a single goal. The Beach have a 6-3 all-time mark against the Tritons, winning the last two meetings. Following Saturday's contest, LBSU will be on the road for the next two weeks, beginning at UC Irvine next Saturday, February 19, and the UC Santa Barbara Tournament in two weeks. 49ERS HAVE STRONG START: The Beach won three of four games at the Triton Classic to open up 2005, winning 7-4 over Cal Baptist, 7-5 over UC Santa Barbara and 7-6 over San Diego State. The team's lone blemish was 10-7 to No. 4-ranked Loyola Marymount. Five players scored for LBSU in the season opener against Cal Baptist on Day One, before LBSU used two goals from Cassie Azevedo (Long Beach) in the nightcap over UCSB to give Ricardo Azevedo 100 career wins on the women's side. On Saturday, LMU went up 5-2 early and never looked back, before The Beach bounced back thanks to two gaols a piece from Azevedo and Drue Wawrzynski (Los Alamitos) in the nightcap over SDSU. Azevedo tallied seven goals for the weekend, while Robyn Gordin (Cerritos) added five goals.
RUNNING THE SHIP: The 49ers are under the leadership of sixth-year Head Coach Ricardo Azevedo, who has led The Beach to No. 4 national rankings in each of the past three seasons and an overall record of 101-67. The Beach have produced back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in school history, going 21-9 last season after going 24-8 in 2003. Azevedo, who also coaches the men's team, was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federaton's co-Coach of the Year in 2003.
AZEVEDO IS STAR STUDDED ATTACKER: Junior attacker Cassie Azevedo (Long Beach/Wilson HS) returns for her third season as the team's top returning scorer with 47 goals last season and 93 in her two-year career (eighth-best all-time). Azevedo was named first team All-MPSF and was a third team All-American last season after leading the goals in steals (56) and assists (47). Azevedo, along with senior 2-meter Drue Wawrzynski were part of the Top-40 Speedo Cup Tournament this fall, featuring the nation's top players.
COUNTED ON IN THE MIDDLE: Another of the team's five returning starters is senior 2-meter Drue Wawrzynski (Los Alamitos), who returns with 119 goals to her credit, sixth-best all-time. Wawrzynski is the team's second returning scorer with 44 goals last season, nailing 52 percent of her shots on the season. Wawrzynski also had a team-best 41 earned ejections.
HAWKINS STOPS 'EM: Senior goalie Bri Hawkins (San Diego) will head back to San Diego and play in the pool she grew up in for nine seasons for the final time, at UC San Diego. Hawkins has produced a pretty solid career at The Beach, tallying a school-record 649 saves as the 49ers have gone 52-27 in her three-plus seasons as a starter. Hawkins has twice been named second team All-MPSF Tournament and has allowed just over five goals a game in her career.
IT'S ALL IN THE FAMILY: The 49er water polo team certainly has a family connection, or two, as this season with show. Cassie Azevedo is just the latest line of All-American players in the Azevedo family, following in the footsteps of her father, Ricardo, and her brother, Tony, who is currently player professionally in Italy. Mom, Libby, is even involved, joining Shore Aquatics Mom's Water Polo. But now there is a second family in the pool, the Wawrzynski's. Drue followed her father and brother in the pool at Long Beach State, and now will truly be the big sister to another, to younger sister, Dayna, who is a freshman on the team.
EXPERIENCED IN THE MIDDLE: When it's all said and done and the 49ers are in Michigan competing for the NCAA Championship, the team make look at its three 2-meter defensive players as one of the reasons. The combination of Jessica Levin (Los Alamitos), Robyn Gordin (Cerritos) and Tara Campbell (Quebec) may be the best trio in th country at that position. Gordin and Campbell are both returning starters, while Levin played in all 30 games off the bench.
NEWCOMERS TAKE NOTE: The 49ers will have two players in the pool that should make an immediate impact this season, senior driver Jeanine Jackson (Los Angeles) and sophomore attacker Marina Canetti (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Jackson is a transfer from Stanford, while Canetti is a part of the Brazilian national team program.
ROSTER IS FROM ALL OVER: Water polo is very much a Southern California sport, but a closer glance at the roster reveals that some of the best players make their home outside the state, including: two players from Canada (Tara Campbell, Alison Braden), one from Brazil (Marina Caneti), one from Florida (Claire Howie), another from Illinois (Maggie Hatcher) and two from Washington (Christina Wensman, Ashley Heaslip).
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