A vibrant blue banner that reads “2014 NCAA Champions” hangs on the wall of the east side of Spieker Aquactics Center. Not having been exposed to the sun as long as the other banners, the recent men’s water polo banner stands out among the rest.
The many banners that drape the “Champion’s Wall” serve as a constant reminder for the UCLA men’s water polo team to bring back another NCAA championship.
As the season progresses this year for the Bruins, the competition among highly ranked opponents continues to grow.
No. 1 UCLA (11-0) has yet to fall to any opponent this season and is following a very familiar path to that of last year’s NCAA title team. This upcoming weekend, UCLA will enter Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play against neighboring Malibu foe, No. 9 Pepperdine (6-5).
The Bruins have had their fair share of looks against the Waves, defeating them once in an exhibition matchup in the first weekend of play at the Triton Invitational and another time in the Kap7 NorCal Invitational on Sept. 19.
Sophomore attacker Max Irving stressed that beating a team three times is a challenge in itself.
Pepperdine has proved to keep the pace with UCLA, only falling short 12-6 in the two teams’ last matchup.
The Waves have been one of the tougher opponents that the Bruins faced this preseason and found their way into the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s Top 10 poll in recent rankings.
These past weeks for UCLA have helped to deepen the roster and disperse the playing time among everyone. The goal of adding depth to the roster has worked for the Bruins, as the youth on the team has seen a significant amount of playing time.
“There were some interesting combinations of guys that we haven’t seen,” said coach Adam Wright. “There will be some new guys in the mix for sure moving forward.”
With conference play starting next Saturday, along with the rapidly approaching SoCal Tournament, it will still be important for UCLA to continue to work on its 6-on-5 opportunities.
“We have to be more aggressive in our attack and our post movement,” Irving said. “We are going to practice our 6-on-5 attack especially preparing for Pepperdine coming up this Friday and the SoCal tournament the week after that.”
In the past, UCLA faced tougher competition as the season progressed. The Bruins started 8-0 in last season’s MPSF play, but encountered their first loss to break an 18-game winning streak last season in mid-October when facing crosstown rival USC.
UCLA is currently on an 11-game winning streak, looking to add two more wins by the end of the weekend. Two victories would not only give the Bruins a 13-0 undefeated record, but they would also make the Bruins 1-0 in conference games.
“It is up to us to accomplish our game plan in order to be successful,” said junior attacker Ryder Roberts.