Bruins guard undefeated conference record, rank

Friday, October 30, 1998

Bruins guard undefeated conference record, rank

PREVIEW: Team faces tough competition against the Cardinal,
49ers in weekend matches

By Steve Kim

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The second-ranked UCLA men’s water polo team will attempt to
maintain its clean conference record when they play Stanford and
Long Beach State this weekend.

The Bruins host a rematch with the Cardinal Saturday at noon at
the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center. The No. 4 Cardinal have a 14-4
overall record and are 4-1 in conference games. Stanford lost both
of their games against the Bruins this season, the latest being
just last weekend, when the Bruins beat both Stanford (6-4) and Cal
(7-6) at their home pool.

"We got a lot of confidence (coming) out of last weekend," UCLA
assistant coach Adam Krikorian said. "One of the hardest things to
do is to beat Cal and Stanford in the same weekend at their
place."

Losing twice to the Bruins, Stanford is in a position to prove
itself against UCLA and also better its conference record. The team
is capable of upsetting the Bruins, and UCLA head coach Guy Baker
remembers a time when it did.

"In 1996, we had the same scenario when we beat Cal and Stanford
up north and we had to play Stanford the following Saturday," Baker
said. "And we lost in the Rose Bowl pool. It was one of our worst
games that year."

The Bruins are aware of that incident and are mentally prepared
to prevent history from repeating itself. Their focus is to not
slack on their game play after such big win.

"Hopefully, we can match the intensity of our last game," said
sophomore defender Andy Bailey. "We expect Stanford to be more
intense than last week because it’s like a make or break game for
them."

Bailey, whose nose was broken during last week’s Stanford game,
is a scorer and is expected to play this weekend. He joins the
ranks of numerous water polo players who have broken their noses in
practice or competition.

"Yeah, my brother Sam had his nose broken and some other people,
like our assistant coach Adam, had too," Bailey said. "It’s put
back in place now, and I have a black eye because of it. It can get
hit again but you can’t really worry about that."

UCLA carries a 12-2 overall and undefeated conference record. It
will give the Bruins a significant lift in ranking and tournament
seeding if it can keep a perfect conference record against Stanford
and Long Beach State this weekend.

They host eighth-ranked Long Beach State Sunday at noon at the
Sunset Recreation Canyon pool. The 49ers feature leading scorers
Jeff Colyer with 32 points and Corey Dolley with 26 points. They
have more losses than wins, with a 7-9 overall and 1-3 conference
record but have beaten Cal this season, a formidable victory.

With that in mind, Baker again stresses that the team to keep up
its guard; he wants the team to play the opponent with the respect,
as if the Bruins were playing a higher-ranked team.

"If we take the attitude like we just have to show up and play
just because we beat them last time, it can be a let down game for
us," Baker said.

Baker played at Long Beach and coached there under head coach
Ken Lindgren. Both coaches currently take part in the U.S. women’s
national team of which Baker is the head coach and Lindgren is the
assistant.

Beside that, Baker says he doesn’t take playing Long Beach
personally.

"It’s been so long ago, coaching at Long Beach," he said. "Most
people I’ve worked with are long gone.

Baker added, "It’s a conference game and it’s just as important
as the Stanford game, so we never want to let down."

Comments, feedback, problems?

© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board[Home]