Toring, Sutter back
in pool as practices
start for water polo
By Esther Hui
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The UCLA men’s water polo team will kick off spring training
this weekend at the Spring College Championships to be held at USC.
The tournament includes most of the top collegiate men’s water polo
teams, with the teams seeded according to fall rankings.
The Bruins, who placed fourth at the NCAA championships in the
fall, will play Pepperdine in the first game and Long Beach State
on Saturday.
Missing from the Bruin roster will be senior Scott Turner, as
the teams play without seniors and redshirts from the fall.
However, the Bruins will be starting national team member Jim
Toring in his first game since he broke his leg mid-way through the
1994 season. Though not playing this weekend, two-meter defender
Mark Sutter is back in training after tearing the meniscus in his
knee in November.
"We’ll be a little sluggish," UCLA head coach Guy Baker said.
"The team is returning after two and a half weeks off, but the
tournament will give an early, early indication of where we
stand."
* * *
The Bruins have signed two junior national team players for the
1995 season.
Leading the list is 6-5 Brian Bent, a two-meter defender from
Coronado High School in San Diego. Bent is ambidextrous, meaning he
can shoot with both hands, an advantage in water polo where
defenders guard according to which arm the opposing player shoots
with. Bent plays on the junior national team and was named CIF San
Diego Section Player of the Year after leading his team to the CIF
Championship in the San Diego Section.
Bent’s teammate from the junior-national team 6-1 Matt Armato
has also signed with the Bruins. Armato hails from Long Beach
Wilson High School, which won the CIF Division I championships last
fall.
"The main thing these recruits will add to our team is depth,"
Baker said. "I’m really confident with the way the team looks right
now, probably the most confident since the first year I’ve been
here. We only lose Scott, and we’re picking up Mark and Jim. The
recruits can only make us better."