UC Irvine Moves to Top in Water Polo Rankings

The UC Irvine men’s water polo team, which has been near the top of the Top 20 coaches’ poll most of the season, was finally ranked No. 1 this week.

The Anteaters (18-5, 7-1), who defeated then-No. 1 UCLA, 9-8, last Sunday, moved to No. 1 for the first time since they won the NCAA title in 1989.

UCLA fell to third and USC moved up a notch to No. 2. They finish their regular season with a game against each other Saturday.

Irvine Coach Ted Newland said his team’s victory over UCLA provides momentum going into the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament, Nov. 24-26, at the national team’s training site in Los Alamitos.

“We played well against UCLA,” Newland said. “It was big win for us. It was a fun game to coach. It was a very enjoyable win.”

Junior Jeff Powers, a two-meter player who scored five times against the Bruins and had three goals in a 6-4 victory over Long Beach State, was named the conference player of the week. Powers leads the Anteaters with 62 goals.

“He’s been playing well for us.” Newland said. “He’s a gifted athlete. He’s 6-foot-6, big and fast.”

Irvine concludes its regular season Saturday at No. 10 UC Santa Barbara.