Had the UCLA men’s water polo team not been wearing the same cursive script caps, their final drill in Wednesday night’s practice would have looked like an all-out brawl between bitter rivals.
Stressing defensive pressure with half a shot clock and full intensity in a six-on-six scrimmage, the Bruins attempted to simulate the physicality they will likely face as they travel to No. 7 California (9-5, 0-1 MPSF) this weekend.
No. 3 UCLA will have also have to confront one of water polo’s most hostile environments in order to bounce back from a loss to No. 2 UC Santa Barbara last weekend.
“We try to simulate, but there’s really nothing like going on the road into an environment like that,” coach Adam Wright said.
“It’s a great opportunity for us; these guys only get to play in a conference game at Berkeley twice in their career.”
The Bruins (15-2) have also made limited use of loud music during practice to try to give players a feel for the environment the crowd at Cal typically creates. However, UCLA realizes the importance of taking the hostility that comes with road games at face value.
“For me, the noise only helps,” said senior attacker Griffin White. “Whether there’s noise or no noise I still play the same and I feel like everyone else plays the same way as well.”
“When you go on the road you have to play in hostile environments but you have to come out with the W.”
Conference Play Nears
Saturday’s matchup opens the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation season for the Bruins.
Despite Cal’s recent struggles against the nation’s top teams, having lost five of its last seven games, the Bruins understand how dangerous a national powerhouse playing at home can be.
“Whether it’s in the defense or on the attack, we can’t let things have a trickle down effect, so we really concentrate on playing in the now,” Wright said. “We’re going to be tested big up there.
Smile for the Camera
UCLA’s duel with Cal this weekend also marks the team’s debut on the Pac-12 Networks.
The Bruins will be featured in three televised regular season games, including upcoming conference matchups against No. 1 USC and No. 5 Stanford.
The team remains unfazed by the added attention, planning to focus on the game at hand instead.
“It’s nice that water polo’s getting some publicity now, but at the end of the day we’re focused on us and what we need to do to be successful,” said freshman utility Danny McClintick.