By Mayar Zokaei
Daily Bruin Contributor
Of all Serela Kay’s accomplishments, accolades she has
garnered, records she has set and struggles she has endured,
nothing could have prepared the women’s water polo player for
the predicament she was thrust into this season.
Though she had been a starter since her first game as a Bruin,
over a span which saw UCLA win two NCAA titles, Kay was informed
this season by UCLA co-head coach Adam Krikorian that she would be
relegated to the bench.
The change was so unexpected that many thought the free-spirited
playmaker from St. Mary’s High School in Annapolis, Mary, had
at last encountered something that would halt her incessant
smile.
“It’s been one of the most difficult things
I’ve ever had to do,” Krikorian said. “We
struggled at times with size and I didn’t like the idea of
starting two lefties. (Kristin Geurin) has a bit more size, and I
had to do what was best for the team.”
It’s difficult to criticize Krikorian’s tinkering,
especially considering the squad’s success this season and
its motivation to improve upon last year’s finish.
The Bruins ended 1999 with a 24-10 record and a No. 3 national
ranking. By conventional standards, it was a superb year. By UCLA
measures, however, it was a disappointment ““ especially since
the squad had captured the national title three years running.
But for the incumbent Kay, it was just another hurdle in a race
that will soon end. The 22-year-old senior will have exhausted her
college eligibility after this weekend’s national
championships in Bloomington, Ind. The only sort of atonement for
her would be a third title ““ a very possible outcome
considering UCLA comes into to the 16-team tournament seeded
second.
“To finish it all off with a national title would mean a
lot,” Kay said. “But, no matter what happens, it was
the process that I’ll always remember and enjoy. Not that we
won or lost, but the entire season, the training, the tournament,
being a team.”
Perhaps Kay derives her energy and spirit from mass consumption
of ginseng. Her mother, Cheryl, runs a vitamin store in Maryland.
Or maybe it is her penchant for Jamba Juice.
Whatever the source, its effects are radiating.
Kay, a psychology student with a specialization in business, put
her amiability to good use recently when she worked as a therapist
for autistic children. Her interest was piqued through one of her
recent classes at UCLA.
“Professor Ivar Loovas, he’s the reason I decided to
do it,” she said. “I took one of his classes in the
fall quarter and I was hooked.”
“The way he teaches his classes are incredible,” she
continued. “Other professors always seem like they just want
to come in, do what they got to do, and leave. Professor Loovas is
amazing.”
It only seems fitting that Kay, the first left-hander to ever
play UCLA women’s water polo, relishes in assisting others in
the water as well.
Last year’s team assists leader admits that she would much
rather set up a goal than notch one.
“I love making that pass right before the goal, when you
know just what the person is going to do,” she said.
“No one really notices who made the game-winning assist,
it’s always “˜wow, what a shot.’ I feed off
others’ energy.”
Teammates like current roommate Carly Herrera can concur.
“She’s so unselfish and just the motivational leader
of the team,” said Herrera, a fellow senior. “Anyone
who loses her starting position is going to be disappointed, but
she knows her role. She isn’t even letting it affect
her.”
Another testament to Kay’s love of the team concept
occurred last Tuesday. A day before the team departed for
Bloomington, Kay helped organize the traditional team function, in
effect every year that UCLA has made it to the national
championships.
This time around, the entire squad met at Sunset Canyon
Recreation Center to watch the sun set, an effort which seemed
somewhat simple, but included a special additive to help promote
team unity.
“We all got these balloons, and we thought of one focus
for our lives and one focus for the weekend,” Kay said.
“Everyone wrote all these manifestations on the balloon, made
a wish and let the balloons go.”
Just like her teammates, Kay’s balloon partly represented
her goals and focus. Just like the rest of the UCLA women’s
water polo team, Kay released her balloon into the dim sky.
And, just like Kay, the whole team was smiling.