Water polo cruises to nationals

CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Jeff Dunnam goes for a free ball during the UA men's water polo team's victory over Utah Sunday afternoon.

Southwest Conference champions. That has a nice ring to it, but as members of the Arizona men's water polo team will tell you, it's just the beginning.

The Wildcats took the honor of conference champs this weekend in their own pool by sweeping through their Southwest Conference counterparts with relative ease.

Arizona has had opposing teams afraid to go back into the water this season as the No. 2 Wildcats stormed to a 12-0 conference record and 20-2 mark overall. Saturday and Sunday's sweep at the UA Student Recreation Center pool came at the expense of No. 16 Colorado, Utah and Utah State.

After dismantling Colorado's "B" squad early Saturday morning, Arizona blitzed past Utah State, knocking off the visiting Aggies 25-2 in afternoon action. Four Wildcats notched three or more goals against an almost non-existent Aggie back-check.

Sunday's action saw the Wildcats pick up where they left off the day before, with the Wildcats dropping Colorado's "A" team by a score of 12-4 to advance to the championship game against Utah.

In the championship contest, the Utes were no match for the Wildcats. With the Arizona defense keeping Utah in check, Arizona made quick work of the Utes, winning 14-4 to take the conference title. Senior Anthony Delorenzo and sophomore Eric Qualls led all Wildcat with three scores each.

The Wildcats dominated the weekend without the services of starting driver Andrew Acedo, who was out of action with the flu. Even without the senior in the lineup, Arizona was able to get solid play out of the rest of the squad.

"Everyone played well," said senior Sean Devlin. "Anthony (Delorenzo) had some huge goals in the big games and (goalie) Justin Corea blocked a ton of big shots."

We are solid enough to compete with anyone. ö Sean Devlin, senior

In order to advance to the National Collegiate Club Championships, a squad must win its conference outright.

Since league play began in 1996 the Wildcats have dominated the SWC. Against teams such as Utah, Utah State, Colorado, Colorado State and the Colorado School of Mines, the Wildcats have been knocked from the top spot only twice over the past eight seasons. By winning titles in 1998 and 2001, Colorado is the only other team to take the conference crown.

Despite being a perennial conference power, the closest the UA team has come to winning a national title since its inception in 1976 was in 1996, when it finished second to Michigan.

This season Arizona enters the 16-team tourney in the No. 4 position and will face off against the University of Virginia in the first round.

"We are solid enough to compete with anyone," said Devlin.

This year the tourney moves from San Luis Obispo, Calif. to the campus of Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. The consensus team to beat this season is reigning two-time champs Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo. Arizona was stopped last season by Cal Poly in the second round, falling 6-3 in a close match, and could see the Mustangs again this season. The thought of avenging last year's loss has stayed with the Wildcats for over a year.

"We are looking for revenge," Devlin said. "We want to let them know how it feels."

With nationals set to kick off Nov. 7, the Wildcats have over a week to prepare themselves for their first-round matchup with Virginia. Devlin has an idea of what to expect from the Cavaliers - after all, he attended Sacred Heart High School in Los Altos, Calif. with two of Virginia's top players.

"I think we can win it all," Devlin said of his team's chances in nationals.

"Not many teams come close to matching us," said Delorenzo, the 2002 Southwest Division most valuable player.

From the onset of the season, Arizona has had one goal in mind: to win the national title.