Women's water polo headed to nationals

Fresno State loses to Cal Poly in the division championship, but will play for the national title May 5-7

By NATHAN HATHAWAY

The Fresno State club women’s water polo team has little doubt it will win a national championship next month.

The Bulldogs, ranked No. 1 in the nation heading into this weekend’s division tournament at the University of Southern California, will play in the national tournament May 5-7 at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.

“We’re going to go down there and win everything,” Fresno State coach Darin Cheeseborough said.

Fresno State received an automatic bid to the national tournament by virtue of playing in the division championship game Sunday against national powerhouse Cal Poly.

After beating Cal Poly 7-5 earlier this year at the Fresno State tournament, the Bulldogs lost 6-5 to the Mustangs on Sunday.

The loss will most likely drop Fresno State out of its top ranking. A new collegiate water polo poll will be released Wednesday.

Fresno State went into halftime of Sunday’s match down 5-1 to No. 5 Cal Poly.

“We kind of came out flat and missed a lot of good opportunities and didn’t play as crisp as we have for a lot of the year,” Cheeseborough said.

The second half, however, was an entirely different story.

The Bulldogs outscored Cal Poly 5-1 in the second half, coming up just short.

“We stepped up to the competition and played a little more aggressive,” Bulldogs veteran Natalie Klomp said. “It was brutal. There was a lot of (swim)suit grabbing and a lot of thumbs being bent out of shape and a lot of kicking and pinching.”

The Bulldogs guaranteed themselves a spot in the final match by beating UC Davis Team B 15-1, then beating UC Davis Team A 6-3 on Saturday.

Despite the fact the Bulldogs did not win their division championship match, they get a bid to the national tournament, because of the strength of the Pacific Coast Division in which they play.

The Pacific Coast Division is the only division, other than the division hosting the national championship, to send two teams to the tournament.

“We’re one of the most competitive leagues in the nation,” Klomp said. “It’s all about the Pacific Coast and Cal Poly and us.”

Cheeseborough said his team is gunning for Cal Poly in the national tournament. Cal Poly and Fresno State will be on opposite sides of the national championshp bracket, which is seeded based on last year’s national tournament outcome.

“I know we’re better than that team. We all know it,” Cheeseborough said. “We expect to see them in the national title game.”