A letdown might be expected after beating the top two teams in
the country on the same day. But the UCLA men’s water polo
team is working and practicing even harder. “We’re
going to work even harder over the next couple of weeks,”
UCLA men’s water polo coach Adam Krikorian said.
“We’ve got to keep focused. When this team is
successful, we’re going to enjoy the wins, but we’ve
got to work even harder on our preparation.” That is the
water polo mentality. In a sport where being physically and
mentally in shape is put at a higher premium than many other
sports, teams never let up. What the Bruins will admit about the
significance of their wins on Sunday against No. 1 USC and No. 2
Stanford at the NorCal Tournament is that it gave them a huge
confidence boost. They will admit the wins were needed, both
mentally and in the standings, especially a couple of weeks after
what they felt was a sub-par showing at the SoCal Tournament.
“Last weekend was huge,” senior center Ted Peck said.
“We’ve always been confident but it proves we’re
the best team in the country.” “If we play our best, we
can beat every team in the conference. We have a much deeper team
than everyone else.” With the NorCal Tournament title, UCLA
is now 10-2 on the year, and more importantly, has the same number
of losses as No. 1 USC (10-2) and No. 2 Stanford (11-2), and one
less loss than No. 3 California (10-3). The weekly water polo
rankings are usually released on Wednesdays, and the Bruins will
likely move up in the polls today. “We know we’re all
even now,” Krikorian said. “We brought them both down
to two losses.” Because the results at the NorCal Tournament
do not affect conference records, UCLA strengthened its case to the
NCAA for an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship. Only four teams
are invited to compete for the championship, and one of those spots
is an at-large bid given to the MPSF, UCLA’s conference.
Krikorian said that since one of the main criteria the NCAA uses to
make its at-large selection is head-to-head play, UCLA is now in
better shape since the Bruins are now 1-0 against Stanford and 1-1
against USC with one match remaining against each. With conference
play beginning next week, Krikorian also said he is shifting his
team’s focus in practice. The Bruins will now be working more
on game situations, finishing out quarters, end-of-game situations,
and “knowing what plays we want to run.” “If we
play our best, there’s no reason we shouldn’t finish
11-0 in the conference,” Peck said. “This team is
extremely resilient and tough, we definitely have the capability of
going 11-0.” “Our starters can go one-on-one with every
other team and our bench, which goes five or six deep, can compete
with several teams’ starting lineup. If we play our best,
especially with this group of seniors, we can win an NCAA
championship. It’s just a matter of doing it in the
pool.”
ORMSBY HONORED: UCLA senior attacker Brett
Ormsby was named the MPSF player of the week for the second time
this season after scoring six goals at the NorCal Tournament. He
also scored his 200th career goal while at the tournament.