Undefeated men’s water polo team tempered by coach
Even though No. 1 UCLA will be facing a team on a five-game hot streak in No. 10 Princeton on Thursday, senior attacker Ryder Roberts said the Bruins’ mentality remains focused on themselves. (Aubrey Yeo/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Claire Fahy
Oct. 9, 2014 4:32 a.m.
Toward the end of Tuesday night’s practice in Spieker Aquatics Center, UCLA men’s water polo coach Adam Wright gathered his team and gave it a passionate and stern chalk talk. From the pool deck, the attentive group of men did not look like the nation’s undefeated top-ranked team as the group accepted its coach’s constructive criticism.
The Bruins have been nothing short of dominant this season, shutting down their opponents by double-digits on eight separate occasions. This week UCLA (15-0) faces a packed schedule with multiple highly ranked teams, the first being No. 10 Princeton (11-1) on Thursday night.
While the men’s water polo season can stretch all the way into December for the NCAA championship, the key to the Bruins’ success so far has been remaining in the present.
“The past is the past. The reality is that we know that every opponent will give us their best. We had a good weekend last week (in their 12-2 win over LMU), but it’s over,” said Wright. “We know that in our sport as in any sport you let your guard down because you think you’ve arrived or you’re good enough and that’s when you get beat.”
Wright speaks from experience after last season’s hopes for an NCAA title were crushed by Stanford early on in the postseason during Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs.
UCLA has managed to reach the midway point of the season with a perfect record. Despite some close calls against No. 2 Stanford and No. 4 USC, the team has stayed above the fray and atop the national rankings.
“We’ve just got to play to our system,” said junior defender Anthony Daboub. ‘We’re not worrying about anyone but ourselves right now. If we play our system, we’ll win.”
The UCLA system has been firing on all cylinders as of late, but offensive lapses have led the Bruins to admit that there is room for improvement. During Tuesday night’s practice, the squad was pulled from the pool by Wright, who animatedly discussed where the team was falling short.
The intensity of the Bruins’ practices has kept the team from looking beyond each individual opponent and also has produced an overall sense of preparedness, said sophomore attacker Ryder Roberts.
For UCLA to maintain its momentum from the first half of the season, the team will rely on strong focus and a deep bench.
“We have a big week in a sense. We have a game Thursday, we have four games over the weekend,” Wright said. “If we can use our depth, that will help us through the whole week.”
When the Bruins face the Tigers on Thursday, they will come up against a team that has won its last five against competitive East Coast opponents. The Bruins’ mindset is to focus on themselves and not the opposition.
“Every day we just focus on what we’re doing, not what other people are saying,” Roberts said. “We come here and we do what we need to do and the rest takes care of itself.”
