UNIVERSITY BEAT / LONNIE WHITE : Being No. 1 Doesn’t Ensure UCLA a Spot in Pool

In any other year, UCLA’s top-ranked water polo team would virtually have been assured an NCAA tournament berth. Considering their record--8-0 in the conference, 16-4 overall--it would not have mattered how the Bruins fared in the annual Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs.

But that is not the case this season.

With the NCAA going to a new four-team tournament, down from eight, UCLA is battling its conference opponents to get into postseason play. The top seven-rated teams in the nation are from the MPSF.

“I wish eight teams were still going to play in the tournament,” said UCLA’s fifth-year coach, Guy Baker. “This is the first year that we’re using this new format so it really feels dramatic to us now. But no matter how much we debate this . . . the reality is that nothing is going to change.”

In defeating then-No. 3 UC Irvine, 10-8, Saturday, UCLA not only avenged two early-season losses to the Anteaters but also won the only match between them that counts in the MPSF standings.

“It used to be that teams with the [fewest conference] losses would be in good shape,” said Baker, whose Bruins have won nine consecutive matches going into Saturday’s showdown against No. 2 USC. “But not anymore.”

UCLA’s undefeated conference record no longer is considered a major plus because the MPSF does not get the four at-large bids in the NCAA tournament it did in the past to go along with an automatic bid to the tournament champion. This year, the MPSF will get only its tournament champion’s berth and one at-large bid.

The NCAA tournament will also have the champions from the Eastern and Western associations.

“Basically, everyone is in a situation that they have to win the [MPSF] tourney,” Baker said. “We all play each other throughout the season, but it will come down to who has the [fewest] overall losses. So, even if you lose early, it’s important to keep winning in the [consolation] matches.”

UCLA, however, could not have picked a better time to get hot. Since losing early in both the Southern California and Northern California tournaments, the Bruins have been on a roll.

UCLA’s losses came against Irvine and Pepperdine, each defeating the Bruins twice. The Bruins, however, have beaten every team in the top 10, among them USC, Stanford, Long Beach State, Air Force, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara. They defeated No. 4 California twice.

“Obviously, we’re having a good season,” Baker said. “We’ve swept both Cal and Stanford for the first time since 1972, but we can’t even sit back and enjoy it. Stuff like that is good to recognize at a banquet, but it doesn’t get you in [the NCAA tournament]. This has been an unbelievable year.”

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The Loyola Marymount women’s volleyball team won its second consecutive West Coast Conference title with victories over St. Mary’s and Santa Clara last week. The Lions, ranked 18th by Volleyball magazine, are 12-0 in conference play and, with home victories over San Francisco and San Diego this weekend, can become only the second team in league history to go undefeated in conference play.

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UCLA’s women’s soccer team finished a strong season last Saturday with a 2-1 loss to Washington in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. Under Coach Joy Fawcett, the Bruins finished 14-4-2 in only their third year.

On Sunday, the UCLA men’s team defeated Fresno State, 1-0, in the final of the MPSF playoffs. With the victory, the Bruins gained the No. 1 seed in the NCAA West Region and will play host to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Sunday at 1 p.m.

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UCLA sophomore Mebrahtom Keflezighi qualified for the NCAA cross country championships next Monday in Ames, Iowa, after finishing third at the NCAA District Eight qualifying race last Saturday. USC’s Emebet Shiferaw also qualified in the women’s race.