Picking up a conference win was the University of Hawaii water polo team’s primary focus leading up to Thursday’s match with UC Santa Barbara.

But once the buzzer sounded on an 8-3 Big West victory over the Gauchos, UH coach Maureen Cole’s attention quickly turned to a matchup with a familiar friend and foe.

After pulling away from No. 12 UCSB in the fourth quarter, the eighth-ranked Rainbow Wahine take their shot at No. 3 UCLA today at 6 p.m. at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.

The coaching matchup will be another reunion for Cole and former Punahou classmate Brandon Brooks, now in his eighth season as the Bruins’ head coach.

“He’s a great guy,” Cole said of Brooks, a two-time Olympian. “I wish him all the best and it’s fun to have two Hawaii homegrown kids coaching against each other at the NCAA Division I level. It’s pretty special.”

UCLA owns a 47-3 advantage in the all-time series with UH and has won 11 straight since 2011. The Bruins improved to 15-1 this season with a 22-5 rout of No. 12 San Diego State after the Wahine victory over UCSB.

“We have to take care of the ball,” Cole said. “We have to force them to play defense and limit their counterattack. They’re an incredibly fast team and they capitalize on any mistakes. So we have to be really good with the ball and have to hustle back and get organized quickly.”

UCLA’s lone loss was a 10-9 decision to No. 1 USC on Feb. 25. The Trojans were responsible for three of UH’s losses, including a 9-8 defeat on March 17 in a match decided in the final 20 seconds.

“That’ll be fun,” UH junior Claire Nixon said of another opportunity to face a top-three team. “I really look forward to it. We go in fearlessly, we just know we can compete with those teams.”

Nixon converted on two power plays in the first quarter against UCSB and the Rainbow Wahine (11-9, 2-1) sealed the win in their Big West home opener in the fourth period on three goals from the sophomore class.

While UH put the match away with the fourth-quarter surge from Carla Abellan, Irene Gonzalez and Femke Aan, Cole highlighted the Wahine defense in front of the net as the most impressive aspect of the victory.

“I think our center defenders did a great job,” Cole said. “(The Gauchos) play a motion offense and we worked on that quite a bit this week, so I think we’re doing a good job of playing off and not letting them get any inside.”

UH goalie Ymane Hage made 11 saves, one short of her season high, and Nixon was a key part of that effort inside in UH’s stingiest effort since an 11-0 win over Loyola Marymount on Feb. 5.

“We were all over the place,” Nixon said. “We were stealing the ball, we were getting field blocks, it was awesome. Great team effort.”

After facing UCLA today, UH closes its five-game homestand against San Diego State at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday.