Feb. 21, 2007

The No. 2 ranked Stanford Cardinal heads south for the UC Irvine Invitational (Feb 24-25), hosted by University California-Irvine. Stanford will take on the 16th ranked Michigan Wolverines in the first round of the Invitational at 11:30 AM PST. With a Stanford win, the Cardinal would take on the winner of the #6 San Jose State/ #10 Arizona State match at 4:30 PM PST. A Cardinal loss would put the Cardinal in a 5:45 PM PST match against the loser of contest between #6 San Jose State/ #10 Arizona State.

Stanford's Saturday matches will be held at Corona del Mar High School, and the Sunday action will take place either at Corona del Mar High School or the Anteater Aquatics Complex. The other teams in Stanford's bracket include #15 Long Beach State, #7 Loyola Marymount, #10 UC- Davis, and the #3 USC Trojans, who the Cardinal played last weekend.

In the first round Stanford draws the University of Michigan, which has a 9-3 on the season. Michigan is lead by Senior Shana Welch, who has a team-high 23 goals on the season. She led her team to a 4-0 record in last weekend's Terrapin Invitational hosted by the University of Maryland. Welch is the second leading scorer, this season in all of collegiate water polo, only trailing Hawaii's Kelly Mason, who has 27 goals on the season.

Welch is helped out by sophomore Julia Hyrne who is right behind Welch with 21 goals on the season. Freshmen Leah Robertson provides the Wolverines with a third scoring option as she has 16 goals herself on the season. In the goal, Michigan is led by sophomore Kristen Davis, who has played all but ten minutes this season and has made 82 saves. The last time these two programs met was in the 2006 Stanford Invite, where Stanford defeated the Wolverines by a score of 12-4.

In their second round match, the Cardinal will either draw #6 San Jose State or #10 Arizona State. San Jose State comes into the weekend with a 4-5 record after splitting their two games last weekend, winning 12-7 against Cal State Northridge and losing to No. 2 USC 12-5. San Jose State is led by senior Beth Herbets, who is the team's leading scorer with 14 goals in the team's first nine games. Seniors Deanna Lowry and sophomore Juliet Moss each have chipped in nine goals each. Stanford played San Jose State twice last year, winning 13-5 in last year's Stanford Invite and winning later in conference play 9-3.

#10 Arizona State enters the UC Irvine Invitational 1-4 after they dropped a game to Hawaii last weekend. Last season Arizona State finished sixth in the nation and returns its second leading scorer from last season in sophomore Addison Doud. Arizona State also returns starting goalkeeper Caylinn Wallace, who is averaging 7.2 saves per game. This season Doud, has scored 12 goals in just five games. Stanford played Arizona State earlier this season at the Stanford Invite and came away victorious by a score of 16-7. The Cardinal also defeated Arizona State in their one meeting last year at the Avery Aquatics Center by a score of 16-7.

Stanford enters the weekend coming off two victories over No. 2 USC 10-8, in overtime, and Cal State Northridge 9-2. The Cardinal are 7-1 on the young season and have yet to drop a game in MPSF play, posting a perfect 4-0 record. Sophomore Lauren Silver leads the team with 18 goals, while senior Katie Hansen isn't far behind with 14 goals. Senior Christina Hewko is third on the team with 12 goals. The Cardinal have outscored their opponents 96-49 in 2007 and are led by the tandem of senior Meredith McColl and freshman Katie Heddleston, who have 38 saves and 32 saves, respectively.

UC Irvine Invitational Saturday February 24 - Corona del Mar High School:

USC vs. Long Beach State 9:00 am
Loyola Marymount vs. UC- Davis 10:15 am
Stanford vs. Michigan 11:30 am
San Jose State vs. Arizona State 12:45 pm