Men’s Waterpolo Preview

By Rekha Rao
Daily Bruin Contributor

They play like a well-oiled machine, taking each quarter one at
a time and beating their last 14 opponents. But this weekend, the
UCLA men’s water polo team meets one of only two teams that
has beaten them before.

This Sunday the Bruins take on UC Irvine at Sunset Recreation
Pool at noon.

The last time these two teams met was in the season opener on
Sept. 9, and there UCLA fell to UCI 9-7 in overtime.

“It was so long ago, it was the first game of the year for
both teams,” co-head coach Guy Baker said. “I would
think that both teams have changed a lot since that time
period.”

Now the Bruins (17-2 overall, 7-0 MPSF) are on a 14-game winning
streak. They hope to finish the season in the top spot,
guaranteeing them a bid for the NCAA tournament.

The Anteaters (6-1 MPSF, 17-5 overall) are the closest team to
UCLA.

“They have been playing great. This past weekend they won
two games,” Baker said.

The Bruins cannot underestimate the Anteaters.

“They played a really good game last time, but I
don’t think that we did exactly what we wanted to do,
physically and tactically,” co-head coach Adam Krikorian
said. “It was so long ago, it is pretty
irrelevant.”

This weekend UCLA will seek revenge.

“Any sport, anytime you lose, the next time you play them,
you want to come out on top and show them that you are the better
team,”sophomore goalie Brandon Brooks said.

UCI has many strong players, including junior Jeff Powers, a
skilled two-meter man, senior Dan Klatt, a defender and driver, and
senior goalie Dan Hipp, who was recently named MPSF Player of the
Week.

The key for UCLA this weekend lies in their defense.

“We need to be playing well in our counter attack and our
defense. If we are not playing defense well, then that should
affect us,” Baker said.

When the Bruins go into Saturday’s game, the MPSF
tournament on Nov. 24-26 will serve as UCLA’s motivation.

“We want to show Irvine that we can play better than
before, and we want to keep the winning streak going,”
Krikorian said. “But mostly, we want to keep our bid at large
for the MSPF tournament,”

For some of the Bruins, the seeding is not as big deal a deal as
beating a team they lost to.

“(The MPSF tournament) is going to work itself out,”
Brooks said. “It’s not even about the seeding anymore.
It’s about us playing them and showing them what we are made
of.”