Thursday, March 5, 1998
Team puts aside books for poolside
WATER POLO: Balancing studies, team responsibilities somewhat
difficult going into tournament
By Avi Lidgi
Daily Bruin Contributor
With midterms just around the corner, the UCLA women’s water
polo team is buckling down, preparing themselves for the
ever-difficult task of balancing their athletic responsibilties
with their academic ones.
They’re doing this the best way they know how.
"We’re going to Hawaii this weekend," head coach Guy Baker
said.
The University of Hawaii will be hosting a four-team meet this
weekend, giving the 9-1 Bruins a chance to prove their resilience
in the wake of a deflating 9-8 loss at the hands of arch-rival Cal.
A loss, says Baker, that has not yet taken the wind out of the
Bruin sails.
"We still think if we play our game, we can win," he said. "It
was a close game that we would have liked to win, but we still feel
we can do very well this weekend."
Facing their first conference opponents, UCLA will look to begin
where they left off before Cal snapped their 38-game winning
streak.
Curiously, it is perennial water-polo powerhouse Cal, and only
Cal, that can boast of defeating UCLA in the past three years, a
stretch that has seen the Bruins go 69-3 since 1996.
"They’re our real rivals," said Baker about Cal. "I mean,
UCLA-USC, sure that’s a big rivalry, but because (Cal is) always on
top, and so are we, it’s a pretty big rivalry."
Facing teams like Hawaii, Michigan and UCSB, the Bruins figure
to have their hands full, despite being the clear favorite coming
into the tournament.
"Anytime you play a conference game, it’s important to come
ready to play," said Baker. "We still feel we can win the
championship this year."
While Hawaii should provide a much-needed respite for the
midterm-mired Bruins, assistant coach Adam Krikorian is quick to
point out that they do not take their mission there lightly. With
the specter of midterms looming when most of them return, much of
their time off in the land of scintillating sunsets and
breathtaking beaches will be spent, well …
"They’ll do a lot of, um, studying," Baker said,
tongue-in-cheek.
* * *
Before heading abroad, the team must handle all affairs
domestic, and tonight that means taking care of business at the
hostile confines of the USC pool.
The team may be without senior standout Catherine von Schwarz,
who suffered brain leakage after an injury to her nose in practice
left her questionable for tonight’s contest.
"It’s not as bad as we thought, and we should have her available
for the ‘SC game," noted Baker.
Although the depth of this year’s team makes the Bruins a tough
matchup, the absence of von Schwarz will make the Bruins
shorthanded on the attack: "She’s important offensively. I mean,
it’s like taking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar out of the lineup," said
Baker, referring to another former Bruin standout who, at times,
also seems to be suffering from brain leakage of his own. (Remember
lawsuit waged over name rights. Puleeeze.)