Squad strives to three-peat, carry NCAA national honors

By Adam Titcher
Daily Bruin Contributor

When the UCLA men’s water polo team took third place in
the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament, the truth about
the at-large bid for the NCAA tournament was kept from a third of
the players by UCLA head coach Adam Krikorian.

Of the three vans coming home, only one had a joke played on
them.

“I put my head down, had the second van pulled over and
said guys … we did not make it,” Krikorian said. “I
could only hold the truth in for a few more seconds before I told
them that we had made the bid. They just wanted to kill
me.”

No. 2 UCLA (15-4) now has an opportunity to repeat as national
champions for a third straight year.

Yet for a minute, in the mind of senior two-meter offenseman
Alfonso Tucay, his season was over for good.

“They got a couple laughs at my expense, but it is
awesome,” he said. “Giving the seniors a chance to live
up to our dreams since we were little, of winning a national
championship (in their final year), is a just a great
feeling.”

Tucay’s season is not over and he will help his team
strive for its eighth national title.

For most of the players though, it does not come as a surprise
that they received the bid. The team had a great feeling from the
beginning that they would be in the Final Four.

“We’re lucky to have (the bid), but it is
well-deserved,” senior driver Jeff Pflueger said. “All
our hard work is paying off and it feels great, even if it is the
back door into the tournament.”

Reaching the Final Four is not the team’s ultimate goal,
though. Only two wins away from a three-peat, the Bruins know they
are capable of winning the tournament with a full-team effort, a
familiar concept.

“Making the tournament is special because everyone has
contributed, from the starters all the way down to the practice
players,” sophomore driver Nick Pacelli said. “This is
the first time I have (played) a large part on this team, so it is
very special to me.”

UCLA, which lost virtually every starter from the 1999 and 2000
championship teams, is well aware of the challenge ahead, as the
team will most likely have to defeat top-ranked Stanford in Palo
Alto.

Regardless of the end result, the squad feels this Final Four
appearance is but a taste of what should be many more to come.

“It means a great deal for this team, but for the most
part this is a brand new team,” Krikorian said. “Win or
lose, it will still get these guys some tournament
experience.”