For the second straight year, the men’s water polo team is right where it wants to be heading into the Kap7 NorCal Invitational.
Just like last year, UCLA (5-0) comes in undefeated as it seeks to defend a tournament title this Saturday and Sunday. But the challenging NorCal invitational will give the No. 1 Bruins their toughest test yet.
“The reality is, it will be a great chance to see where we are,” said coach Adam Wright. “We are going to face tougher opponents. We faced some good opponents this past weekend, but we know the NorCal tournament is one of the tougher tournaments of the year.”
Last year, then-No. 2 UCLA defended its NorCal championship, beating then-No. 1 Stanford and then-No. 3 USC each by a score of 9-7.
Whereas last year the tournament was held at Pacific’s Chris Kjeldsen Pool, this year’s will take place at Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center, which would provide the No. 4 Cardinal with home-pool advantage in a potential rematch.
“We just need to be as consistent as possible,” said sophomore attacker Max Irving. “Showing up to the pool with intensity and full focus no matter who we are playing will carry us over in full force.”
With so little time between last weekend’s UCLA Invitational and the Inland Empire Classic in Redlands, it was imperative that the Bruins utilized the short week of practice well.
“It’s a lot of games in two days,” Wright said. “We have a quick turnaround between games. We don’t have a lot of practices this week, so we’ve got to get better.”
Both Irving and freshman attacker Spencer Farrar expressed confidence in the team’s practice routine.
“I’m pretty secure that if we keep going in practice each and every day this week, we’ll do what needs to get done,” Farrar said.
The NorCal tournament will be a good barometer of not only where the team is at thus far in the season, but of how well some of the younger players adjust to heightened competition. This will also be the first tournament of the season in which UCLA plays four games, none of which are exhibition.
“I think we are doing quite well for how little time we’ve spent together as well as how many games we’ve played,” said junior center Gordon Marshall. “We hope to perform our best and then look onto the next game from that day on.”
It will be key for UCLA to utilize the many different rotations within its roster. After switching up lineups and positions last weekend, the Bruins will look to continue spreading playing time among their deep roster.
Junior goalkeeper Garrett Danner played all four quarters in last year’s Kap7 final against Stanford, but he gets some rest this year by splitting time in the cage this weekend with freshman goalkeeper Alex Wolf.
The intensified competition won’t come as a surprise to the Bruins, who are well aware of what is needed to capture a third straight tournament title.
“Our goal of course is to put ourselves in a position to win,” Wright said. “We know how tough it is to win this tournament. You have to be rock solid all weekend and our hope is that we can do just that.”