This post was updated Oct. 10 at 11:34 p.m.

Men’s water polo
Una O’Farrell, assistant Sports editor

An opportunity for redemption awaits.

After No. 2 UCLA men’s water polo (14-1, 1-1 MPSF) opened its conference play with one loss and one win last weekend, it will face No. 7 Pepperdine (14-3) in Malibu, California, on Saturday. The squad will return home the next day to face No. 11 Princeton (13-5, 4-1 Northeast Water Polo) and Westcliff (6-11) on Sunday.

UCLA heads into week six of its schedule as the No. 2 ranked team – the first time it hasn’t sat at the top of the CWPA rankings. The Bruins’ drop in rankings comes after suffering their first loss of the season to now-No. 1 Stanford last weekend.

Coach Adam Wright said missing players – out due to various injuries – contributed to the team’s performance against the Cardinal, but adapting to change could be key for the Bruins.

“The first thing to focus on is getting the group to work together from a health standpoint,” Wright said. “The second thing is getting them to buy into what we need to work on, which right now is defense – we’re letting in way too many goals, and our zone attack yesterday was nonexistent.”

While this weekend will mark the first time this season UCLA will face either Pepperdine or Westcliff, the team has already faced Princeton this season – the only opponent to take the Bruins into overtime thus far.

Freshman attacker Ryder Dodd said maintaining consistency will be the team’s path to success.

“Having a consistent practice, consistent mindset through the rest of the week will be important,” Dodd said. “Obviously we haven’t been doing the best for the past week, week and a half, so I think we just have to go into every practice consistent and we’ll be just fine.”

Despite none of this weekend’s games contributing to the Bruins’ MPSF record, redshirt sophomore attacker Frederico Jucá Carsalade said the team is hoping to clean up their gameplay heading into the second half of their season.

“We have to be ready to lock in and just focus on ourselves, focus on our structure, focus on our details,” Carsalade said. “If we do that, we’re going to be able to be successful this weekend and in the weeks coming.”

Cross country
Aaron Doyle, assistant Sports editor

The postseason is inching closer and closer.

UCLA cross country will wrap up its regular season at the Bill Dellinger Invite on Friday in Eugene, Oregon. The Bruins are returning to the meet for the fourth consecutive season, finishing sixth on the women’s side and ninth on the men’s side last year.

“It’s a really big piece of the puzzle that some of us have been there before and can talk through it and really know what to expect,” said senior Patrick Curulla. “It will be really good that we can coach up the other guys and be ready to go.”

As the one meet before the Big Ten championships, the Bill Dellinger Invite will give the Bruins a taste of the nation’s top competitors. The women will face off against No. 6 Utah and No. 12 Oregon. The men, who have been dealing with illness and injuries this season, will stack up against No. 2 BYU and No. 22 Oregon.

“On the women’s side, I think we’ve definitely taken a step forward. We’ll essentially have our full lineup,” said assistant coach Andrew Ferris. “On the men’s side, we are still a little beat-up.”

In UCLA’s two races this year, the men’s team has yet to race at least five runners each time, failing to record a singular team score this season. At the Gans Creek Classic last weekend, sophomore Aaron Cantu withdrew from the race after just 2000 meters due to illness, preventing the Bruins from earning a team placement.

Graduate student Michael Mireles and senior Mia Kane could be the Bruins’ beacon of hope.

The pair is expected to make its cross country season debut with just one meet left until the postseason – after both being named to the 2024 Big Ten Cross Country Preseason Player Watch list.

While time is ticking, Ferris said the race is an opportunity to see where the team stands.

“That is the test. That is why we do this,” Ferris said. “It will be a good way to see exactly where we are at and how we compare.”