Water polo prepared for Pepperdine
Bruins hopeful to even conference record, win last stretch
before NCAA tournament
By Esther Hui
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The No. 4 UCLA men’s water polo team is still itching for a home
game after yesterday’s match against Bucknell University was
cancelled.
The unranked Bison had travelled to California from Pennsylvania
for a tournament, but because of a hazing incident that happened
over the weekend were forced to withdraw from the match with UCLA.
Bucknell University officials have suspended the water polo program
for the remainder of the year.
"I’m kind of glad in a way," UCLA head coach Guy Baker said of
the cancellation. "We really need the practice."
Intensity was high during practice yesterday, as the Bruins
prepared for their match against No. 6 Pepperdine, scheduled for
1:00 p.m. Sunday at the Sunset Canyon Pool. Only three games remain
until the NCAA Tournament invitations are considered, and a win is
important for UCLA (10-7 overall, 2-3 in the Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation) to even its conference record.
"I expect for us to play with the most intensity and play harder
than we have all season," Baker said. "It is that important of a
game. We’re going to come in and establish ourselves and have the
best game of the year. If we win that, it puts us in the driver’s
seat."
The last time the Bruins met the No. 6 Waves was in September,
when UCLA fought back from a 7-1 half-time deficit to win, 10-9.
The first half included three two-point shots by Pepperdine, a
credit to outside shooters Jeff Coker, Kevin Hurst and Zac
Holding.
"(The Pepperdine match) is a huge game for us," said Jim Toring,
out for the season with a broken leg. "If we win this game, it
won’t assure us a spot in the NCAA tournament, but it makes it just
a whole lot easier to get in. It’s kind of a screwed up year.
Everyone’s beating and losing to everyone else. For everyone but
Stanford it’s just a rat race to get a bid to the tournament.
"We’re going to need the same second half effort we had (at the
first Pepperdine match), except for the whole game this time."