By Rekha Rao
Daily Bruin Contributor
For the second year in a row, the UCLA men’s water polo
team is going to the NCAA Championship tournament. As the No. 1
seed, the Bruins will compete against No. 4 Navy at Pepperdine
University on Saturday, and should they win, UCLA will play the
winner of the No. 3 UC San Diego-No. 2 USC game on Sunday
afternoon.
Under the guidance of co-head coaches Guy Baker and Adam
Krikorian, the Bruins are looking to win their fourth title in six
years.
UCLA paved its way into the NCAA Championship by winning the
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title in a 6-5 defeat of Cal in
the final game of last weekend’s MPSF tournament.
UCLA has not faced UC San Diego nor Navy this year, but the
Bruins have trained with them in the preseason.
“They (Navy) played in the same tournament that we played
in, the Southern California Tournament, but we did not play
them,” Krikorian said. “We scrimmaged them in the
summertime in Hawaii, so we have a general idea of how they are as
a team.”
Navy’s key players include senior Shawn Foster.
“(Foster) is probably the best player on the East Coast.
He has good size and speed, and is a solid all-around
player,” Krikorian said.
The Bruins are taking this tournament one game at a time, but
they still have the eventual goal in mind.
“I don’t think it matters who we play for the
championship. We just want to win,” Krikorian said.
The Bruins last faced the Trojans on Nov. 18 at the Rose Bowl
Aquatic Center, where the Bruins won 6-5. Soon after that the NCAA
took away five winning games from UCLA for playing an ineligible
player. Officially, UCLA’s record against USC is 0-4.
USC is the favorite to face the Bruins in the championship game
on Sunday.
“This weekend should be a battle,” senior 2-meter
man Dave Parker said. “We will come into each game with the
same philosophy to play hard, but we have a couple different twists
with plays. We will have the same attitude.”
Last year, the Bruins beat Stanford 6-5 for the NCAA
championship.
As returning champions, UCLA has had to face the pressure all
season.
“It was hard coming into the season as returning
champions, but I think coming into the tournament it is
easier,” Krikorian said. “We have been there and done
it. We know what the atmosphere is like, what the crowd is like,
and what the games are going to be like.”
But the expectations are heavy for the Bruins.
“Everyone is expecting us to win it,” sophomore
playmaker Nick Pacelli said. “We just have to play hard and
play our game to win.”
But this year the Bruins have a little bit more on their minds.
Senior Adam Wright has been declared ineligible by the NCAA because
he never filed for a medical redshirt his true freshman year.
Despite legal attempts to get it back, he has been declared
permanently ineligible to play.
This has affected the Bruins in different ways, both emotionally
and physically.
“It has affected us in a big way,” Krikorian said.
“Whether we win or lose this weekend, it will not change what
has happened to our team because of this. He is a part of our
senior core group that has been our leaders through the year, and
now he is not playing.”
Parker agrees that losing Wright has been difficult for the
team.
“It has been like losing your captain,” he said.
“He is one of the best players on the team, and losing him
has been hard. He is still a big part of this team.”
The Bruins still have senior Sean Kern, who was recently named
MSPF Player of the Year by the league’s head coaches. Kern, a
2000 Olympian, also was the 1999 NCAA Player of the Year and last
year’s NCAA Championship MVP.
The Bruins are going into this weekend motivated.
“We are pumped. It has been a wild season, and we are glad
we made it though,” Pacelli said.
The season will be over after the tournament, and for the
team’s six graduating seniors, it will mark the end of their
collegiate careers.
“This is the craziest season I have ever been a part
of,” Krikorian said. “We have been through a lot at as
a team. It has been emotional and trying at times. We have stuck
together through it all, and that is what is special about this
team.
“Hopefully it will carry us through to another
championship.”