LOS ANGELES -- No. 3-seeded UCLA beat top-seeded Stanford, 11-7, on Sunday (April 28) to win the 2002 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Women's Water Polo Championship at USC.

With the victory, the Bruins receive an automatic berth into the 4-team NCAA Championship on May 11-12, also at USC. Michigan of the Collegiate Water Polo Association and Loyola Marymount of the Western Water Polo Association already have qualified for the NCAAs. The Cardinal hope to receive the NCAA tourney's at-large bid, which will be announced on Monday (April 29).

In Sunday's other action, No. 2-seeded USC beat No. 5 Long Beach State, 11-8, in the third place game; No. 4 California defeated No. 6 San Jose State, 8-6 in overtime, in the fifth place contest; No. 7 San Diego State beat No. 8 Hawaii, 9-8, in the seventh place game; No. 10 UC Irvine defeated No. 9 UC Santa Barbara, 9-7, for ninth place; and No. 11 Pacific beat No. 12 Cal State Northridge, 8-2, in the 11th place game.

Sunday's championship round results:

1st Place Match
UCLA (21-3)        0-3-4-4---11
Stanford (21-2)    2-1-2-2---7

UCLA Goals: Jessica Lopez 3, Kristyn Pulver 2, Thalia Munro 2, Ashley Stachowski, Maureen Flanagan, Jenny Lamb, Kelly Heuchan

Stanford Goals: Margie Dingeldein 2, Jeanine Jackson 2, Ellen Estes 2, Brenda Villa

UCLA Saves: Jaime Hipp 4

Stanford Saves: Jackie Frank 4

Jessica Lopez scored 3 goals, while Kristyn Pulver and Thalia Munro each added 2 goals, to help No. 3-seeded UCLA (21-3) beat No. 1 Stanford (21-2), 11-7, in the MPSF championship match. Consecutive goals by Amber Stachowski, Munro and Jenny Lamb broke a 5-5 third quarter deadlock and the Bruins, who trailed 2-0 after the first quarter, were never threatened again. Margie Dingeldein, Ellen Estes and Jeanine Jackson scored 2 goals apiece for Stanford.

3rd Place Match
Long Beach State (19-14) 0-2-2-4---8
USC (26-4)               2-2-4-3---11

LBSU Goals: Angelica Garcia 4, Ashley Richardson 2, Stacy Black, Drue Wawrzynski

USC Goals: Sofia Konoukh 4, Nina Wengst 3, Aniko Pelle 2, Katrin Dierolf, Shelli Linza

LBSU Saves: Bri Hawkins 10

USC Saves: Sarah Mix 5

Sofia Konoukh scored 4 goals, Nina Wengst added 3 and Aniko Pelle had 2 to help No. 2-seeded USC (26-4) defeat No. 5 Long Beach State (19-13), 11-8, in the third place game. Konoukh scored 3 consecutive goals to open the second half to increase USC's lead to 7-2. Angelica Garcia scored 4 times for the 49ers and Ashley Richardson had 2 goals.

5th Place Match - OT
San Jose State (19-12)   2-1-1-2-0---6
California (18-8)        2-2-1-1-2---8

SJSU Goals: Laura Scott 2, Christine Welsh 2, Neva West 2

California Goals: Brenna Fleener 4, Cara Chlebicki 2, Julie Arnold, Julia Cesnik

SJSU Saves: Nichole Lipman 10

California Saves: Lauren Dennis 9

Brenna Fleener and Julia Cesnik each scored a goal in overtime to give No. 4-seeded California (18-8) an 8-6 win over No. 6 San Jose State (19-12) in the fifth place game. SJSU took a 6-5 lead with 2:53 to play in regulation on a Laura Scott goal, but Fleener tied it with 2:00 to go to force the overtime. Fleener had 4 goals in the game and teammate Cara Chlebicki added 2. Scott, Christine Welsh and Neva West each had 2 goals for the Spartans.

7th Place Match
Hawai'i (14-15)          1-2-2-3---8
San Diego State (20-14)  3-2-2-2---9

Hawai'i Goals: Karin van Hoff 2, Chelsea Garner-Prohs 2, Tracy Anderson, Erin Kocher, Darcy Scott-Hosaka, Beth Novick

SDSU Goals: Amber Prestegard 4, Casey Finnegan 3, Dominique Delgado, Ashleigh May

Hawai'i Saves: Christa Tackaberry 7

SDSU Saves: Heather Stiles 9

Casey Finnegan scored the game-winning goal on a lob shot with 29 seconds to play to give No. 7-seed San Diego State (20-15) a 9-8 victory over No. 8 Hawaii (14-15) in the seventh place game. It was Finnegan's third goal of the day, while teammate Amber Prestegard scored 4 times. Karin van Hoff and Chelsea Garner-Prohs had 2 goals each for the Rainbow Wahine. Hawaii battled back from a 3-0 first quarter deficit to tie the contest twice in the fourth quarter, first at 7-7 on a van Hoff goal and then, after Prestegard gave the Aztecs the lead again, Erin Kocher tied it at 8-8 with 3:01 left.

9th Place Match
UC Irvine (16-22)         2-4-1-2---9
UC Santa Barbara (17-17)  2-2-1-2---7

UC Irvine Goals: Melissa Fernandez 2, Erica Horman 2, Lauren Volcan 2, Rebecca Wedemeyer 2, Nerissa Reidenbaugh

UC Santa Barbara Goals: Mary Blumberg 4, Megan Ricks, Teresa Gorbett, Katy Kunkel

UC Irvine Saves: Sunceray Chamblee 7

UC Santa Barbara Saves: Yvonne Conard 1

No. 10-seeded UC Irvine (16-22) got 2 goals each from Melissa Fernandez, Erica Horman, Chelsea Culton and Rebecca Wedemeyer to help defeat No. 9 UC Santa Barbara (17-17), 9-7, in the ninth place game. UCI, which led 2-0 in the first quarter, was up just 8-7 late in the game, but a Fernandez goal sealed the victory with 1:15 to go. Mary Blumberg scored 4 times for the Gauchos.

11th Place Match
Cal St. Northridge (5-23)  1-2-3-2---8
Pacific (6-19)             2-0-0-0---2

CSUN Goals: Melissa Hall 2

Pacific Goals: Kelly McNeley 3, Jessica Schroeder 2, Stacy Christy, Hilary Graves, Lyndsay McNamee

CSUN Saves: Jessica Moody 4

Pacific Saves: Julie Ross 14

Kelly McNeley scored 3 goals to lead No. 11-seeded Pacific (6-19) to an 8-2 win over No. 12 Cal State Northridge (5-23) in the 11th place game. CSUN led 2-1 early in the second quarter before a pair of McNeley goals started the Tigers on a 7-0 run. Jessica Schroeder added 2 goals for UOP, while Melissa Hall scored both of the Matador goals.