For what could be the final rendition of In the Cage, the men’s water polo writers mustered together a live studio audience. Some laughed, some cried, but all were intent on hearing the forecast for the biggest weekend of all – the NCAA championships.

For the greater part of the season, No. 2 UCLA has been clicking.
But in the past ten days, the Bruins have had three games where their communication and poise has been subpar.

As the final buzzer sounded at Uytengsu Aquatics Center last weekend, there was disappointment on the faces of the Bruins. Coach Adam Wright said after the game that the loss to the Trojans showed that the team that had reeled off of 57 straight wins had plenty to work on.

The two matches on men’s water polo’s senior day both ended in victory, but each came in a starkly different manner.
On Saturday, No. 1 UCLA (24-0, 2-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) took down San Jose State and Whittier 10-3 and 18-5 respectively, to add to an NCAA-record 57-game winning streak.

The Bruins have been competing on the road for nearly three weeks.
This Saturday however, No. 6 Stanford rolls into Westwood, and undergraduate assistant coach Danny McClintick joins the Daily Bruin beat writers to preview the homecoming and what the Cardinal brings to the table.

The defense keeps the team in games, but the offense has been what’s making them games in the first place.
The No. 1 UCLA men’s water polo team is in the middle of its third straight title run, has won 54 straight matches and took down No.

The No. 1 Bruins have the weekend off after breaking the NCAA consecutive wins record in the last one and a rare Thursday game in Santa Barbara.

Alex Roelse didn’t have a typical off-season.
The junior utility had just returned from Olympics duty to rejoin the UCLA water polo team for the 2016 season.

The men’s water polo team makes its way north this weekend with a chance to write its name into the history books – again.
The squad can tie the 1985-1987 Stanford Cardinal’s NCAA-record 51-match winning streak against No.

As the fading summer sun shines brightly upon the pools of the Spieker Aquatics Center, the familiar whistles and shrills of water polo return to Westwood.