Women’s water polo discusses mental strategies after loss to No. 1 Stanford
Coach Adam Wright stands on the pool deck. No. 2 UCLA women’s water polo suffered its second loss of the season to No. 1 Stanford on Saturday. (August Suchecki/Daily Bruin)
By Kyle Boal
March 30, 2022 1:55 p.m.
At the conclusion of the Bruins’ most recent contest, coach Adam Wright gathered his group and asked them to sit down.
“When he said that, I was like, ‘This is going to be a lot, and I’m prepared for it,’” said freshman attacker Molly Renner.
No. 2 UCLA women’s water polo (21-2, 3-1 MPSF) typically has a quick team meeting at the conclusion of its games, followed by a cool-down swim. But after the team’s second loss of the season to No. 1 Stanford (14-1, 2-0) on Saturday, Wright took a different approach.
In lieu of normal postgame practices, Wright said he used the time to give an in-depth breakdown of the loss.
“It was sort of just a way to show us how we honestly gifted them all their goals,” said senior attacker Val Ayala. “We controlled the game the entire time, but our mistakes allowed them to score.”
Since 2010, Stanford has won six national championships while USC has claimed the remaining five. Prior to that, UCLA had won all but two of the NCAA championships since 2001.
Wright said his goal is to get the Bruins back to being the premier program in collegiate women’s water polo.
“I still believe our history here is unmatched,” Wright said. “We owe it to our past. Our past is the fabric of our program. We have a great foundation in place, and we’ve come a long ways.”
The Bruins allowed five unanswered goals in the second half of their loss to the Cardinal on Feb. 27 and gave up a 3-1 run in the closing minutes of the final frame Saturday, dropping their first conference game of the season.
Wright said his team’s preparation for Stanford is inconsistent with the program’s overarching pregame philosophy.
“It’s all psychological. It’s how we empower the opponent,” Wright said. “We have so much room to grow from a water polo aspect, but if we can’t grow in (the psychological) area, it becomes really tough. Now you’re relying on luck, and most of the time against a team of that caliber, luck isn’t going to play out for you.”
Since taking over the women’s program in 2018, Wright is 2-9 against the Cardinal. However, UCLA defeated Stanford in the NCAA semifinal last season to advance to its first national championship game under Wright.
If the Bruins are going to claim their first national championship since 2009, Wright said his team will need to change the way it approaches its rivals.
“This is really a big piece for the program – it can’t be over before it starts,” Wright said. “That’s top to bottom, we have players that have multiple gold medals treating Stanford differently. Quite frankly, if we’re going to change the situation, that’s got to change.”
