The NCAA News - News Features

National Collegiate Water Polo Preview -- Trojans look to end trio's reign

Event: 1996 National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championship.

Overview: Three teams -- Stanford, California and UCLA -- have dominated the championship in the 1990s, but Southern California is vying to break the trio's dominance and claim its first title. Ranked No. 1 in the coaches' top-20 poll for six consecutive weeks and winners of 18 of their first 20 contests, the Trojans are led by forwards Marko Zagar and Hrvoje Cizmic and goaltender Brendan Grubbs. Zagar and Cizmic headline a Trojan offense that has averaged nearly 12 goals a game. The two have combined for 80-plus goals and are among four Trojans who have scored more than 30 goals .... UCLA, the defending national champion, dropped only three of its first 24 contests and is ranked No. 3. The Bruins showcase a team of veterans led by Jim Toring, Corbin Graham, Jeremy Braxton-Brown, Steve Covec and goaltender Matt Swanson. Graham leads the squad offensively, scoring 51 points through 24 games .... Stanford, which has claimed two of the last three titles, is the nation's No. 2-ranked team. Sporting a 16-5 record, the Cardinal is led by seniors Brian Wallin and Daniel Lehoczky and sophomore goaltender Chris Aguilera. Aguilera heads a defense that has limited opponents to six goals or less on nine occasions .... UC Irvine (13-7), led by Ryan Bailey and Omar Amr, and California (12-6), behind Brent Albright, also will be vying for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's lone automatic berth. The Golden Bears and Anteaters are ranked Nos. 4 and 5, respectively .... Air Force and UC Davis are the top two teams battling for the Western Water Polo Association's (WWPA) automatic berth. The Cadets (12-9) are ranked No. 7, their highest ranking ever, while UC Davis occupies the No. 9 slot. Air Force, which went undefeated in WWPA competition, is seeking its second championship appearance in three years, while UC Davis, which showcases Ryan Indart and Kevin Quinn, is attempting to advance to the championship for the first time since 1975 .... Massachusetts has qualified for its fourth consecutive championship appearance. Ranked No. 13, the Minutemen earned an automatic berth by defeating Queens (New York), 10-8, in the Eastern Championships of the Collegiate Water Polo Association.

Field: Four teams in a single-elimination format. A team will be selected at large without geographical restriction to join the three automatic qualifiers.

Dates and site: The championship will be December 6 and 8 at UC San Diego.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1698 for bracket/schedule, 5332 for semifinal results, 5333 for third-place game and 5334 for championship-game results. Championship results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Results will be published in the December 16 issue of The NCAA News.

Championship notes: California has appeared in a record 11 consecutive championships.