Team faces weekend of tough postseason play

  NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Jake Simmons
maintains control of the ball in a match earlier this year.

By Pauline Vu
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

For Thanksgiving, UCLA men’s water polo senior Andy Bailey
says he has a lot to be thankful for.

“Our whole team is playing together, everyone’s
healthy, I go to UCLA, I play water polo …” Bailey said,
listing.

And by Sunday, Bailey’s hoping for just one more thing to
add to that list.

A conference championship.

And along with that, an automatic berth in the Final Four of
men’s water polo.

This Friday, third-ranked UCLA (18-3 overall, 7-1 MPSF) begins
postseason play in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
Tournament to fight for the conference title. With their No. 2
seed, the Bruins match up in the first round against No. 7 seed
University of Pacific (11-12, 2-6) in the three-round
tournament.

“I think our chances are good if we play the way
we’re capable of,” Bailey said.

But more important than the league championship, the winner of
the title earns the MPSF’s automatic bid to the NCAA Final
Four. After the tournament a committee will decide which other top
team gets an at-large berth to the tournament field.

But the Bruins, despite their high seeding, aren’t
depending on that possible at-large berth to get them into the
Final Four.

“We have to win. It’s critical that we win,”
said sophomore attacker Kyle Baumgarner.

The other two spots go to UC San Diego, which won the Western
Water Polo Association and Eastern Conference tournaments.

The Bruins have faced Pacific (11-12, 2-6) only once this season
back on Sept. 24, and dominated that game, winning 12-1.

But the Tigers play better when it matters most, and have won
six of their last seven games to take the No. 7 seed. Recently
Pacific has beaten No. 6 seed Pepperdine and No. 5 seed Long Beach
State.

“Sounds like they’ve been on a roll lately.
We’re definitely not overlooking them,” Bailey said.
“At the MPSF, you get everyone’s best games. (Pacific)
is notorious for being a good team in the postseason. Last year in
the first round, they upset USC.”

Both top-seeded UC Irvine and No. 3 seed USC will be
UCLA’s biggest competition for the tournament championship.
If the Bruins get past the first round, they’ll likely face
USC in the second round.

Last Saturday, UCLA narrowly beat USC 6-5 in a non-league
game.

“I think it’s gonna be a physical and rough game
because that matchup always is,” Baumgarner said.
“I’m still kinda sore.”

Assuming the Bruins beat USC on Saturday, they’ll likely
meet UCI in the conference finals.

This should be a huge challenge because the only team that UCLA
hasn’t beaten so far is No. 1 ranked UCI. In fact this season
the Bruins have lost twice to the Anteaters.

“This is UCI’s best team while I’ve been at
college,” Bailey said.

The Bruins have one key weapon back: senior playmaker Adam
Wright, the team leader in goals who was named the MPSF Player of
the Week for scoring half of the team’s goals in the last win
over USC. He returned after skipping three games while his
eligibility was in question.

The tournament will take place at the USC Water Polo National
Aquatic Center in Los Alamitos. UCLA plays Pacific at 5 p.m. on
Friday. If the Bruins lose they will play on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.;
if they win, they will play at 6:30 p.m. Game time on Sunday will
be determined by how UCLA does on Saturday.