UCLA men’s water polo coach Adam Wright is hoping to see “the UCLA brand” of water polo when his team begins its season next weekend – and does not want it to fade like it did at the end of last season.
Last year, a lack of consistency proved to be the Bruins’ downfall. After finishing the regular season with the best record in the country and two wins over the eventual-national-champion USC, UCLA looked like a different team in the conference championships. The Bruins lost two of their three games in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships, and ended up being left out of the NCAA Championships by the selection committee as a result.
The team that will get in the UC San Diego pool next weekend will have many of the same players from last year’s team – but which Bruin team shows up remains to be seen. Wright said the returning players on this year’s team possess experience that other returning players on different teams might not have.
“We have eight seniors. Some of them have played in two NCAA finals and (have) been conference champions,” Wright said.
He also expects the underclassmen on the team to make significant contributions, as the team’s seven sophomores played consistent minutes in their rookie seasons last year.
“Last year, we played seven freshmen. The experience they got will be critical as we get through the season,” Wright said.
Senior attacker Paul Reynolds focused on the value of experiencing not necessarily the successes, but the failures of the past season.
“We got a lot of experience from the trials and tribulations of last year and this summer, and we’re bringing that into this year,” Reynolds said.
Rounding out the roster for the Bruins will be a couple players who either redshirted last year or will play as true freshmen, although the roster is still to be determined, Wright said.
“Right now we’re in the scramble. We’re figuring out who you can play because once you play them, you have to go with them (for the whole season),” Wright said.
One new player who may make a major impact on the squad is freshman utility Alex Roelse, a 6-foot-7-inch, 230-pound recruit from the Netherlands who is two years younger than any player on his country’s national team. Wright also mentioned that freshman defender Warren Snyder may play for UCLA, and that several players who redshirted last year will also begin contributing this year.
Looking toward this weekend’s tournament, Reynolds said UCLA will need to focus on “sticking to our system” throughout the four games. UCLA’s first three games will be against University of Redlands, California Baptist, and No. 14 Loyola Marymount University before taking on No. 10 UC San Diego.
While quick to stress that none of the four games will be easy, Wright said that the biggest test for his team would come during the last game of the tournament when the Bruins take on the Tritons at their home pool.
“The big thing is we can’t be too concentrated on who we’re playing. We have to really concentrate on (what) we need to improve on,” Wright said.