Unity among teammates is undoubtedly desirable for any sport, but for the 17 women on the UCLA women’s water polo team, unity is of primary importance.
Coach Adam Krikorian agrees that this year’s team is especially close-knit.
“Some of it has to do with sheer numbers,” Krikorian said. “We have a pretty small group, and a lot of it has to do with the type of people we have in the program.”
Admittedly, the girls spend many grueling hours at practice each week, but they still find time to hang out and play games, eat, or even just talk.
“We’ve been really into (the handheld game) Catch Phrase lately,” senior driver Kelly Rulon said. “Last week I had everyone over and we had dessert and played Catch Phrase.”
Melissa Mordell, one of only two freshmen on the team, feels the bonds between teammates have helped her adjust to playing among a pool full of women who have earned NCAA titles the last two years running.
“At first I was scared, because I know the talent in the pool and the size of the girls,” Mordell admitted.
“But they’re very welcoming, I think, more so than other teams and more than I feel like in general high school teams are with their freshmen,” she said.
These friendships do more than to just improve the players’ lives, they also help to improve the level of play the team brings to its games.
This intensity was showcased at last weekend’s Stanford Invitational Tournament in Palo Alto, where the Bruins took the tournament with a late-game victory over then-No. 1 USC to start their season with a sparkling 4-0 record.
“If you can trust someone outside the water, it definitely helps in the water,” Rulon said. “You know people’s tendencies and how they react emotionally to certain things and in different situations, not just physically.”
“We really had a hard time last year communicating with one another,” Krikorian said. “In this sport, where it’s so physically demanding and you’re so tired, there are stretches of a game or practice where it takes a little extra effort to communicate. If you’re not that close or you’re worried about how someone feels about something you say, then you’re not going to communicate. I don’t think there are any of those feelings this year.”
Mordell also believes the openness of the team has helped her to fit in and feel more comfortable playing with the more experienced players, and she was even able to score her first goal at the collegiate level in last weekend’s tournament, against Indiana.
The same openness also allows her to feels comfortable asking for help, even at practice.
“Not that Adam doesn’t explain the plays,” Mordell said, “but (the other players) go out of their way to explain it to you again.”
The Bruins’ team unity is likely to continue helping communication within the squad and strengthening their play when they hit the road in a few weeks to begin the regular season with games against Cal and University of the Pacific.
UCLA faced Cal at the tournament last weekend and came out on top, 10-2.