Colorado State Water Polo: Rams To Take Part In Cal State Bakersfield Tournament

The Colorado St. Rams women's water polo team will be heading back out to California to take part in the Cal State Bakersfield Tournament. Colorado State is currently coming off of their best weekend this year by going 3-1 which includes a 9-8 upset win over the Pacific Tigers.

This weekend will be much tougher for Colorado State as they are playing two ranked teams in No. 16 Hartwick and No. 7 Loyola Marymount, plus they play at Cal-State Bakersfield who has the second best record in the Western Water Polo Association. Cal State San Bernardino is more on Colorado State's level and is a game that the Rams have a very good chance at winning.

Saturday March 31

Colorado State at Cal-State Bakersfield 12 p.m. MT

As mentioned Cal-State Bakersfield is 7-2 in league play and has the second best record, and they are a high scoring team and are led by Jessica Browning, who ranks third in the NCAA with 60 goals. Juniors Shannon McKenzie is 10th in NCAA in scoring with 40 goals and first in assists with 51 and Sam Shead has scored 27 goals, 32 assists and is second in the NCAA with 49 steals. As a team Bakersfield averages nine goals per game, so Colorado State will need junior goal tender Melissa Fisher to have a good game in the cage in this game for the Rams chance at pulling off the upset.

Colorado State vs. No. 19 Hartwick 4:15 p.m. MT

This is the lone non-WWPA matchup for Colorado State as they face Hartwick who is coming all the way from Oneonta, N.Y., to face Colorado State. Hartwick has won four of their last six games with the only loses coming by the hands of No. 20 Cal Baptist and No. 3 USC Trojans.

Similar to Bakersfield, Hartwick is another team that can score as they average over 10 goals per game, and have nine players who have scored at least 20 goals this year with Lisa Bass leading the way with 40. Defensively is where Hartwick struggles as they give up just over nine goals per game and split playing time between Guia Carlini and Hayley Cox.

Sunday April 1

Colorado State vs. Cal State San Bernardino 12:45 p.m. MT

This is the game that the Rams have the best chance at winning. San Bernardino is 4-21 on the year, has yet to win a league game and have lost seven straight games. While San Bernardino does not have the best record they do have Misty Vu who leads the team with 77 goals which is three times more than the next scorer on their team. Their defense is a liability as they give up just over 13 goals per game and have given up 10 or more goals in 23 of 25 games so far this season.

Colorado State vs. No. 7 Loyola Marymount Lions 2:30 p.m. MT

There will be little time for Colorado State to rest before they take on LMU in their final game of the weekend. LMU currently has the best record in the WWPA at 6-0 and is favorite to represent the WWPA in the NCAA championships. These two faced each other back on March 16 and LMU cruised to an easy 16-6 victory.

LMU's defense is what sets them apart in the WWPA. They have one o the best goals in the WWPA in Elise Ponce who has the lowest goals against average in 7.16 and the second most saves with 189. Expect this game to be about the same result as Colorado State has yet to bring in the type of players to compete with LMU.

For more on Colorado State sports go check out Mountain West Connection, and go visit The Skip Shot for more water polo news.