UCI NOTEBOOK : After Last Year’s Title, Water Polo Team Falls From Pedestal

Nothing succeeds like success, so they say.

And success breeds success--they say.

UC Irvine’s water polo team won the NCAA championship last year, and the players enjoyed the view from the lofty heights.

But now they know its depths.

At least it feels that way. The defending national champions lost to the University of the Pacific, 12-10, Sunday for the first time in 30 meetings; it was the first time Irvine had ever lost Pacific, dating to 1966.

It was demoralizing--gut-wrenching, even--but was it inconceivable?

Not really, says Ted Newland, the Anteater coach who has guided Irvine to three national championships in 25 seasons.

“I think winning a national championship for a lot of people is a real downer,” Newland said. “It’s not an easy thing to deal with. You get there, and the players think they’re going to ring the bells and it will last forever. It doesn’t last very long.

“You’ve got to start all over again. They want to remain where they are because they won. It’s not a very easy thing get across.”

Irvine has a record of 8-8 this season after losing five key players from the national championship team. The Anteaters knew they had work ahead of them--or should have known, Newland said. Sophomore Pablo Yrizar and junior Skylar Putman were the only returning starters on a roster that includes six upperclassmen.

The trouble started early, when they finished sixth in their own tournament after losing three games to highly ranked teams, all by one-goal margins.

“When the season started, (the team) hadn’t taken the time during the summer and spring to do all the work they needed to,” Newland said. “They hadn’t done enough weights and spent time doing the things they should do. They thought they would be competitive that way. Many people don’t look at things very realistically. They have a lot of things they’d rather do, like all human beings. You can tell them, but you can’t force them. . . . If you’re young and weak you’ve got to put more time in. You’ve got to work extra hard to catch up.”

Now, the question is whether the Anteaters can catch up in time to qualify for the NCAA tournament.

“I don’t believe we should be trying to qualify for this or win that at this time,” Newland said. “I try to deal with it one game at a time. We can still make (the NCAA field) but we will have to play extremely well from here on out. We can’t afford to lose a lot of games.”

Although his team is struggling, it is likely to bring Newland an honor shortly--his 500th victory.

Newland has a record of 498-175-5, after losing, 7-5, Tuesday to Cal State Long Beach. The team plays UC San Diego on Friday at Heritage Park in Irvine and travels to UC Santa Barbara on Sunday.

“I don’t much care--big deal,” said Newland, who estimates he has won 3,000 games if his high school, club and international records are included.

“So what’s 500 next to 3,000?” he said. “I’m an old man, I don’t deal with those things. It’s nice. I’d rather win 500 than lose 500.”

At 62, Newland said he is not yet planning to retire.

“I may coach till I’m 70, if they allow me,” he said. “I think I’m a better coach than I’ve ever been, why not continue on?”

Irvine is playing host to the Rolex-Southern California Women’s Collegiate Tennis Championships at the UCI tennis stadium beginning with qualifying matches today.

Alison Yoshimoto is the only Irvine player who made the draw without qualifying.

Giovanna Carotenuto of U.S. International, 18th in the nation in preseason rankings, is the top-seeded player.

There is no admission charge to the tournament, which begins at 8 a.m. today and Thursday, at 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and concludes with the singles final at 10 a.m. Sunday, followed by the doubles final.

The Brea-Olinda High School girls’ basketball team lost only one game last season.

The UC Irvine women’s team won only one.

The twain shall meet when Jinelle Williams, Brea-Olinda’s senior center, joins the Irvine team next fall, provided she qualifies under NCAA academic regulations and is admitted to the university.

Williams, who averaged 14.4 points and eight rebounds per game last season, says she will sign a national letter of intent during the NCAA’s early signing period that begins Nov. 14.

The question to Williams is simple: Why?

“Because it’s close to here,” said Williams, who also considered New Mexico State and Florida. “I really didn’t really want to go far away. They are recruiting a lot of people in the next couple of years that could turn it around. It’ll be a change . . . I’m used to winning. (Playing at Irvine) will just make me work that much harder to try to help them win. That will be the main thing.”

Before she joins the Anteaters, who had a 1-27 record last season, Williams has a final season with the Wildcats, whose 55-game winning streak was broken by Auburn Placer in the Division III state final last March.

Williams was an honorable mention selection on The Times’ all-county team last season, placing her among the top 16 players in Orange County. She was one of only three players selected who were not seniors.

Her hopes for this season?

“I want to go all the way,” Williams said.

Best to win while the winning is good.

Anteater Notes

The women’s cross-country team rose five places to seventh in the nation after finishing second to Brigham Young at Saturday’s Stanford Invitational. Irvine’s Buffy Rabbitt finished second to Wisconsin’s Suzy Favor, considered the best collegiate middle-distance runner in the country. . . . Irvine’s club lacrosse team will host the Ballantine’s Fall Invitational Oct. 27-28 at Crawford Field. Sixteen collegiate and club teams will participate, including Chapman, Loyola Marymount, San Diego State, UC San Diego and San Diego. The Irvine team, which plays a 12-game schedule beginning in January, also will host the UCI Fall Invitational Nov. 17-18, featuring eight college teams. . . . The men’s golf team finished seventh of 18 teams at the New Mexico State Classic last weekend. Joey Sugar, a junior from Esperanza High School, and freshman William Yanagisawa were the Anteaters’ best finishers, tying for 15th.