No. 1 UCLA is cautious of overlooking final opponent of season

With the No. 1 UCLA men’s water polo team sitting on top of both national and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rankings, as well as having clinched at least a tie for the regular season MPSF championship, it’s easy to look past this weekend’s game against No. 4 Long Beach State and ahead to the impending postseason.

But with the all-important MPSF conference tournament looming, the Bruins cannot afford to overlook its final regular-season game. Doing so could cost the Bruins top seed in that tournament.

“The MPSF is the toughest conference in the country,” coach Adam Wright said. “(And) it’s a total reset when you get to the conference tournament.”

While winning the regular season title will give the Bruins (24-2, MPSF 7-0) a No. 1 seed in the MPSF championship tournament next weekend in Long Beach, the team will still have to do well to clinch a berth in the NCAA Tournament in San Diego in early December.

Only four teams are selected for the NCAA Tournament, and typically only one or two come from the MPSF. Last year, the Bruins ended the regular season in a three-way tie for the MPSF regular season title before finishing fourth in the conference tournament, missing out on an invitation to NCAAs.

Wright said he’s happy with how the team has done so far this season, especially in training consistently and working on flaws in the team’s play, but he said “there’s a long way to go” before the team will be in shape to perform well in the postseason.

Junior utility Danny McClintick says the lead up to the postseason will consist mostly of perfecting what the team has been trying to do all season.

“We know tactically what we’re trying to do. It’s just fine-tuning those things and making sure we’re executing those actions the way we want to,” McClintick said.

Sophomore center Patrick Woepse said that staying focused on defense and making sure the team is communicating will be crucial to the postseason.

“Getting everyone on the same page and playing on the same page is what’s important,” Woepse said.

Wright said that the team “can control how we train this week,” and that worrying about the different scenarios the postseason could take isn’t important. He also added that Long Beach State is one of the best teams in the country, and is currently the team’s top priority.

Players also said they’re more focused on the team itself than any opponents or other factors.

“Rankings don’t matter, seedings don’t matter,” McClintick said. “Nothing matters but what we’re doing every day.”

The present seems to be the most important thing for the team. Wright said that the coming game against Long Beach State is the focus of this week, and his players agreed.

“Right now, we’re not thinking about (the postseason). We have a big game this week against a very good team,” McClintick said.