Men’s water polo to emerge as new team in bid for consecutive NCAA titles

After capturing the 2014 NCAA title and snapping a 10-year national trophy drought for the program, the men’s water polo team relished in the moment that they were national champions.

The Bruins accomplished their goal in bringing home the 112th national championship for UCLA and set the momentum for the next season.

Now, the 2015 campaign is here and UCLA men’s water polo has a chance to bring home its 10th national title. The Bruins begin the new season on Sept. 5 with the same goal: to win an NCAA championship.

“The reality is we are a team that’s very motivated,” said coach Adam Wright. “We are not really defending anything, we are on the hunt. I’m excited to see the evolution of the team throughout the season.”

Returning to UCSD’s Canyonview Aquatics Center for the Triton Invitational should not pose a problem for UCLA. Rather, the Triton’s home pool should remind the Bruins of their title victory. After ending last season in La Jolla, the Bruins will begin their season in an auspicious fashion in San Diego.

“It’s a pretty special place for UCLA in general,” Wright said. “It will be an interesting weekend, there’s a lot of great teams going down there and it will be good for us to see where we are at with everything.”

Junior attacker Ryder Roberts, echoing Wright, said that the Triton Invitational will prove to be a good indicator of where the team is at early in the season.

“We’ve put in a lot of time, a lot of long hard hours throughout the offseason,” Roberts said. “I’m really excited to see how our team comes out. It will be a good barometer of where we are as a team to how far we go in December.”

A youthful depth

The men’s water polo team established itself as a strong offensive and defensive threat in the water, ultimately led by its leadership and commitment. The work ethic that Wright instilled in each player has carried on to building the foundation for a championship team.

However, with only two seniors on the team, utility Danny McClintick and defender Anthony Daboub, leadership roles on the team are open for the taking.

“We have some huge roles to fill,” Wright said. “We have some good young players absolutely but the biggest part is for them to grasp how big the role that they need to fill is. Losing eight seniors is a big task.”

With seven sophomores and seven juniors comprising over half the roster, the experience of playing among the elite in a national championship setting is expected to augment the leadership of the team. In being exposed to the championship game, many of the starters have the opportunity to continue a legacy that the previous group of seniors started.

“I guess I’m one of the older guys, rather than having older guys to look up to like last year,” said junior goalkeeper Garrett Danner. “I definitely want to set an example of how to be acting during practice and leading up to games. It’s important for the older guys to show the younger guys how they handle things when things go bad or even when things go good.”

Danner will take on some responsibility as a veteran leader, but Roberts stressed that the Bruins will constantly be learning from each other.

“Our team is not based on a hierarchy. Everyone is on the same playing field,” Roberts said. “A freshman to a fifth year can tell each other what to do and everyone has the same respect.”

Looking ahead

In the men’s water polo program, UCLA has only won back-to-back championships in 1972, 1996 and 2000. The men’s water polo team has the opportunity to go back-to-back this season with its 10th national championship.

“My goal is to win a national championship – not again – but just win,” Roberts said. “We are not defending anything, we are a new team.”

The preseason Mountain Pacific Sports Federation coaches’ poll projected UCLA to capture the MPSF title in similar fashion to last year’s MPSF conference.

The Bruins also secured the No. 1 ranking in the Collegiate Water Polo Association preseason poll. USC, whose sixth straight NCAA championship streak reign was broken by UCLA, is ranked No. 2 in both the MPSF and CWPA polls.

“The reality is we are a new team. We have a lot of things to work on and that’s the fun part about the creation of a new group,” Wright said. “Obviously we would like to use our experiences from last year, but there’s no doubt we have a lot to work on and we are well aware of that.”

The two-day tournament held at UCSD will give UCLA its first look at UC Davis and UC Irvine on Saturday. UCLA will then face Concordia and Pepperdine on Sunday.