BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The CSU Bakersfield water polo team opens the 2011-12 season at the UC Santa Barbara Invitational this weekend. The Roadrunners take on No. 19 Cal State Northridge in the season opener Saturday morning at 11:15 a.m. At 2:30 on Saturday, CSUB faces WWPA opponent Santa Clara.
Sunday's action begins at 8 a.m. with a match against future MPSF rival, No. 6 Arizona State. The tournament concludes Sunday afternoon at 12:20 p.m. against the host Gauchos. UC Santa Barbara is currently ranked No. 17 in Division I.
After struggling through a 9-31 season a year ago, CSU Bakersfield look to regroup for the 2012 water polo season. The Roadrunners return a strong core of players, led by junior Jessica Browning. The 2-meter player was selected honorable mention All-American by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches as a sophomore after scoring 59 goals, posting 32 assists, for a total of 91 points in 40 matches. A second-team All-Conference selection, Browning was ranked in the top 50 in Division I goals scored (27th), points (29th), and assists (46th).
“Jessica will begin her junior year as a three-year starter and second year captain,” said CSUB head coach Jason Gall. “I am continually impressed with her maturity and motivation in and out of the pool as well as her development as a Division I center. Jessica was an offensive force last season and with the addition and fine tuning of some additional skills that we have been working on, she will be the focus of our opponents defensive game plan.”
Senior goalie Megan Pezzolla anchors the CSUB defense. Pezzolla was named first team All-Conference. She started all 40 matches as a sophomore, making 330 saves. Pezzolla finished seventh seventh in Division I in saves. Her 21 saves in the season finale against Cal State East Bay was a career high. She enters 2012 second in school history in career saves (728).
“Megan as proved that she is one of the top goalies in Division I water polo,” Gall said. “She has been training extremely hard this year and will provide quite a bit of confidence to our team defense.”
Sophomore driver Taylor Hanson earned honorable mention All-Conference honors and was WWPA's All-Freshman Team in 2011. She led the team in goals with 66, the 10th most in Division I. Hanson recorded 23 assists and 40 steals (tying her with two others for 47th in Division I in the category).
“To put up the kind of numbers that Taylor did her freshman year as a driver is extremely impressive,” Taylor is hands down our fastest athlete and she has shattered her training times that she posted last year already in this preseason. Taylor enters this season with a much better understanding of the game and with much more confidence. She is focusing on making herself even better and that is a scary thought for everyone that we will be going up against us this year.”
Other returning letterwinners include Bianca Adams, Jill Charlesworth, Haylie Glandon, Shannon McKenzie, Amanda Nesbit, Malia Pahoa, Sam Shead, and Paige Tsuruda.
“Our returning players gained a lot of valuable experience, some as starters and some coming off the bench, last season,” Gall said. “This will be critical for us as we go through this season. We have depth and experience at almost every position and our players are continuing to gain confidence and understand what needs to be done to help us succeed as a team.”
Newcomers to the program are Alex Bayer, Victoria Cavaldoro, Janelle Shelby, Carissa Cruz, Caitlyn Hill, Linna Leasure, and Jessica Pavletich.
“All of our newcomers have been working hard and I have seen a tremendous amount of improvement in all of them in regards to speed, strength, skills, and knowledge of the game,” Gall said. “As each player gets adjusted to Division I water polo, they will begin to have a significant impact on the success of our team.”
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