UCLA, Pepperdine to vie for NCAA bid
By Daily Bruin Staff
Nov. 1, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 NICOLE MILLER Freshman driver Brett
Ormsby and the UCLA Men’s water polo team wages battle
with Pepperdine and UCSB this weekend.
By Eric Perez
Daily Bruin Contributor
Huge is not a big enough word to describe the impact of this
weekend’s games for the No. 2 UCLA men’s water polo
team.
On Saturday, the Bruins (9-3, 4-1 Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation) square off against No. 3 ranked Pepperdine (12-2, 4-1)
in its home pool at Malibu.
“Saturday’s game is probably the biggest game of the
year,” sophomore driver Albert Garcia said.
UCLA and Pepperdine are dead-locked for second place in the MPSF
and are fighting for the at-large bid to the NCAA tournament
reserved for the second best team in the conference.
Top-ranked Stanford, who faces Pepperdine next weekend, is
undefeated and in the driver’s seat to win the
conference.
UCLA must beat Pepperdine to take control of second place in the
conference.
Various criteria are involved in determining who gets the
at-large bid for the NCAA tournament ““ including conference
finish, placing in the conference tournament, final placings in the
NorCal tournament, strength of schedule and head-to-head
matchups.
The Bruins will face a playoff atmosphere come this weekend, as
the winner will likely end up with the higher seed in the
conference tournament.
The Waves are riding a five-game winning streak, three of which
were won in overtime.
“It will be like a mini MPSF tournament” senior
two-meter attacker Alfonso Tucay said.
The Bruins other game, on Sunday, against No. 10 UC Santa
Barbara, probably won’t provide as big a challenge as their
matchup against Pepperdine, but it will be an emotional affair.
It will be the Bruins’ last home game of the season,
making it the final time Tucay and seniors Jeff Pflueger and Jon
Puffer take the pool in Westwood.
“It’s our last home game, and it’s the
seniors’ last home game,” UCLA head coach Adam
Krikorian said. “We’re taking this weekend (as if)
we’re preparing for a conference tournament. You need to have
that desire and that will to win on both days.”
Though the Bruins are not looking past UCSB, they also
don’t hide the fact that they have Pepperdine primarily in
their sights.
“We’re going to win. There is no choice to it. We
have to,” Tucay said.
