This UCLA Team Makes Quite a Return : Water polo: After being disbanded in March, the third-ranked Bruins will play in the NCAA tournament for the 10th consecutive year.

Last March, Derek Dundas sat in stunned silence on the deck of the UCLA pool. He and his teammates had just been told that the school had eliminated its water polo program.

He had been looking forward to his senior season the next fall.

Danny Hackett, an All-American goalie who also was returning for his senior year, was bitter but didn’t know quite how to react.

“I didn’t want to uproot my whole existence and transfer to another school for three months of water polo,” he said.

Dundas, a driver from Corona del Mar High, and Hackett, from Irvine, thought their collegiate careers were over when UCLA officials announced that water polo and men’s and women’s crew were being dropped because the athletic department was more than $3 million in debt.

Now, eight months later, Dundas and Hackett are preparing for the school’s 10th consecutive appearance in the NCAA water polo tournament this weekend at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach. The team that was disbanded in March is ranked third in the country, and opens the tournament at 6 tonight against No. 6 UC San Diego (21-14).

The Bruins (17-10) will play in the third of four quarterfinal matches scheduled today. No. 1 California (23-1) plays No. 8 Navy (18-6) at 3 p.m.; No. 2 Pepperdine (22-6) faces No. 7 Slippery Rock (25-5) at 4:30, and No. 4 UC Irvine (20-7) meets No. 5 Cal State Long Beach (15-9) at 7:30. Semifinals are Saturday, the final at 8 p.m. Sunday.

UCLA, which finished third last year, is the only team to have defeated Cal, the country’s most talented team. Although the Bruins hope to do well in the tournament, they are grateful to be playing at all.

“This is as great as it’s going to get for me,” said Dundas, who at 5 feet 9 is too small to have a realistic chance of competing internationally. “It was almost taken away. It was upsetting.”

Hackett, who is 6-6 and has Olympic aspirations, said college water polo is essential to a player’s growth.

“We only have a couple years in high school and four years in college,” he said of American players. “We don’t start playing at age 6, like Little League (baseball).”

Dundas and Hackett and their teammates did not lose a year because UCLA water polo boosters quickly organized a campaign last spring to revive the team. The group, mostly former Bruin players who are successful in other careers, persuaded school officials to reinstate the program if it could be funded by an endowment.

They raised $150,000 to support the program for five years and are working toward a $500,000-to-$750,000 goal for permanent funding. Many questions remain, however.

The coaching position was reduced from full time to part time when the team was revived. One reason UCLA Athletic Director Peter Dalis decided to eliminate water polo instead of other nonrevenue programs was because long-time Coach Bob Horn had decided on early retirement after the 1990 season.

Thus, Dalis could eliminate a program without firing full-time staff.

Although the program was reinstated, Horn’s salary level was not. As a result, some qualified candidates were not interested in the job. Guy Baker, a 30-year-old assistant at Cal State Long Beach, decided to take a chance.

“I knew it was somewhat of a gamble,” said Baker, one of the school’s first choices for the job.

The opportunity to coach water polo’s oldest NCAA program was irresistible to Baker, who replaced a man who had led the Bruins for 28 years, compiling a 487-188-8 record. Horn left a legacy that will be difficult to surpass. But Baker plans to try.

“I want this to be my last job,” he said. “I’d love to retire here.”

Although the veterans played under Horn for three or four years, Hackett said they welcomed a younger coach whose casual approach made the game fun.

By the time Baker met the team, though, it was five months behind. Baker said most schools play 30-60 games in the spring and summer.

The Bruins went their separate ways when they did not have much reason to train. Five players from Hawaii went home for the summer. Another transferred to Cal and quit competing. Others played for local clubs.

They did not regroup until Aug. 19, a few weeks before the season began.

At first, the players were unsure of what to expect, even though five of seven starters returned.

“One of the first things Guy told us before we began was that we were a good team,” Dundas said. “I think a lot of us didn’t really believe that at first.”

Then UCLA finished second at the UC Irvine tournament in mid-September.

“They realized they could play with anyone,” Baker said.

Baker’s real challenge will begin after the NCAA tournament Sunday, when he will lose nine of 21 players whose eligibility ends.

Although that offers high school players a chance to play immediately at UCLA, Baker said he has had to address the financial problems while recruiting. The fears of this year’s recruits have been allayed by the five-year endowment, but the question could be more important to 1993 recruits because the program’s future is uncertain beyond five years.

“I think most schools have the same problem,” said Alan Cutro, a former player who has been instrumental in the money raising. “There are no guarantees for water polo players wherever they go.”

Boosters are working with school administrators on a plan to permanently endow the program. UCLA officials want the program supported from outside resources. The boosters want all nonrevenue sports programs to share the financial burden.

In the meantime, Baker tries to remain upbeat.

All he can do is build on what he is given.