March 24, 2012

STANFORD, Calif. - Second-ranked Stanford women's water polo makes a Spring Break road trip this weekend, stopping in Fresno to be honored during the NCAA Women's Basketball Fresno Regional, then visiting Santa Barbara for non-conference matchups with UCSB and Brown Sunday and Monday, respectively.

Before hitting the coast, though, the Cardinal will make a pit stop in Fresno Saturday night. At Fresno's Save Mart Center, Stanford will be honored as a 2011 NCAA champion at halftime of the 6:04 p.m. regional semifinal between Duke and St. John's, then will stick around to support the Stanford women's basketball team in its regional semifinal against South Carolina at 8:32 p.m.

The Cardinal will be honored for its 2011 national title, earned with a 9-5 win over California last May.

Stanford (14-1) enters this weekend on a three-game winning streak having last defeated Hawai'i, 12-4, in Honolulu on March 10.

The Cardinal offense has been powered by the scoring of freshmen Kiley Neushul (35 goals) and Ashley Grossman (27 goals), along with the Lo sisters, senior Alyssa 922) and sophomore Kaitlyn (19).

In the cage, junior Kate Baldoni allows a conference-best 4.53 goals per game and is second in the MPSF with 10.24 saves a game. Freshman Emily Dorst has made 35 saves and boasts a goals-against average of just 5.19 as well.

The Cardinal will take on UC Santa Barbara at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Gauchos (14-10) are led by the scoring of Bryce Winton (27 goals) and Molly Hafferkamp (26 goals), while anchored in the cage by Ruth Milne (11.6 saves per game).

Brown (11-8), Stanford's opponent at 11 a.m. Monday, had a four-game winning streak snapped three days ago by a 7-5 loss to Harvard, and fell for the second straight game early Saturday against CS Northridge at the Bakersfield Invitational.