Cruising the Decks: Happenings From USC To...Salem International?

Trojans post a great win, Tigers have a great story

Oct. 9, 2007

By Trevor Freeman

Special to CSTV.com


	Trevor Freeman Trevor Freeman covers Water Polo for CSTV.com. E-mail here!

Huge weekend of water polo coming up as we have 16 heavyweights converging at Anteater pool for this year's SoCal Water Polo Tournament. Cross-town rivals USC and UCLA enter the tournament on an impressive roll as they drilled Stanford and UC Irvine respectively last week. We have an added bonus to this week's column as a couple of coaches stopped by to chat. We begin this week's Cruise in the mountains of one of our nation's smallest states.

Eleven Shots Out Of Set

11. Not the best team, but perhaps the best story is emanating out of West Virginia. One week before the season, Salem International reinstated their aquatics program. With no time to recruit a water polo team, they have relied on borrowing athletes from other sports. While the losses have piled up, the spirit and love of representing their school has gotten stronger. In an age when you have fallen stars like Marion Jones taking away from the purity of sport, Salem International and their water polo team are doing their best to add back. Their coach, Brian Levake stopped by the Cruise to talk about his program and this is what he had to say.

Tell me a little bit about your team and players. What kind of challenges are you facing right now?

Currently, my players are Hector Sanchez, Joe Messmer, Trevor Hall, Frank Nichols, Seth Finch, Bogdon Matei and my captain Jose Florentino. Along with them, I'm extremely lucky to have Nikola Malezanov as my assistant -- he's an encyclopedia of water polo, both European and American styles. He's forgotten more about the sport than a lot of people ever knew to begin with.

The majority of our players are actually players on other sports teams here at SIU. We're very grateful and happy that the coaches for these other sports trust Nikola and I enough to lend us their guys.

I'd have to say that our number one most pressing challenge at the moment is maintaining a team of healthy players, although that hasn't been too difficult yet, except for Messmer, who is basically playing with one arm at the moment -- God bless his heart. When you're in the situation that we're in, you have to roll with the punches and see the big picture. I'd say that the enjoyment that our guys get from being around one another and playing the game overrides any worry about problems or anything like that.

What was your reaction when they told you they were reinstating the program and you were to be its coach a week before the season started?

First of all, when I heard that SIU was bringing back aquatics, I was ecstatic. I was the first swim team captain that they had when they brought swimming on board in the first place. When I heard that there was a possibility that aquatics might be cut, I was pretty upset about it. I had a hand in cultivating the initial program and watched it grow into the power that it became. To see it go away was very difficult.

Then, when I was lucky enough to be chosen to lead the resurrected program, it was honestly like a dream come true. The fact that I came on so close to the beginning of the season really didn't phase me too much -- I was just so happy and thrilled to be onboard that it really didn't matter. I'm a realist, so it was very easy to see the situation for what it was and work with it. I'm also very lucky to have such a devoted and supportive athletic director in Keith Bullion. He's really made the transition go smoothly for Nikola and I.

What has this experience been like?

This experience has been completely great, despite any difficulties we may have had. The chance to lead and to teach young people and be involved in their lives has been amazing. People seem to think that playing with such a small and inexperienced squad must be maddening. I think it's easy to get sucked into the idea that win-loss records define your season and your team. For us, we are aware of the realities of our situation, and that awareness allows us to enjoy being together -- to have fun and play for the sake of innocence.

What would you tell a high school recruit about Salem International?

Salem International University is such a unique place in many, many ways. I mean, I came here to West Virginia from Chicago, so the culture shock was a little overwhelming at first -- but there is such a sense of tranquility down here -- it's really indescribable. It really is like another world.

The school itself is literally a paradise for the serious student-athlete. We run on what is called the Modular System. We run on a more or less traditional semester system, but instead of taking 4 or 5 classes for months and months, we take one class at a time, with classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This leaves ample time for studies and serious training and competitions. It also allows you to focus much more time and energy on a subject that may be a little more difficult. For example, my ultimate downfall as a student-athlete was college algebra. Under the Mod system, I was able to focus all my time and energy for a shorter amount of time, and was able to get an A in it. If I had to face an entire semester of college algebra, I'm pretty sure I would have lost my marbles.

The beauty of the state, the friendly people and the quality of education make SIU a place that really sells itself. My main point that I try to get across to recruits is that we're not only offering them an opportunity to not only play water polo and swim at very high levels, but we're giving them the chance to become part of something that they can be proud of for the rest of their lives -- the chance to rebuild this program and put their own stamp on it.

For any high school kids that would like to contact Coach Levake, feel free to e-mail me and put you in contact with him. Now, back to the shots.

10. File UCLA's 12-5 demolition of UC Irvine at Anteater Pool in the "How the heck did that happen?" folder. Just about everything seemed to be working in UC Irvine's favor for this one. They entered the game on an emotional high after having just beat Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara in one-goal thrillers. The Anteaters had only lost to the Bruins by one goal in triple overtime at UCLA two weeks ago. On the flip side, UCLA had looked very underwhelming the prior week in a loss against Stanford. Not only did I think UC Irvine had a chance of winning this game, I was fully confident in predicting a statement win for the Anteaters. Hats off to Adam Krikorian for righting the UCLA ship and getting a big win.

9. Santa Clara continues to quietly play good water polo. The Broncos beat Whittier, Brown, Pomona-Pitzer and Cal Lutheran over the weekend to extend their winning streak to five. They have also won 10 out of their last 12 games with the only losses coming to UCLA and UC Davis. Keep an eye on sophomore Liam Farrell. He is quietly turning in an All-American caliber season.

8. Long Beach State bounced back from its one-goal loss to USC with wins over Loyola Marymount, UC San Diego, Brown and MIT. The 49ers enter this weekend's SoCal Tournament with some momentum. They will see St. Francis (N.Y.) in their first game and that has the makings of being a good one.

7. I got a chance to spend some time with the coaching staff at St. Francis. This is just a great place with great leadership and it starts with head coach Carl Quigley and assistant Mikhail Kloichkov. I asked Coach Quigley about the team's improvement since a slow start at the Navy Labor Day Open. He told me that the team has improved due to "getting to know each other as well as conditioning picking up. Plus the freshmen have become more settled in New York and St. Francis." He also pointed out that the Terriers only had an hour and a half to rest between the end of their game against Navy and the beginning of their game against California.

During our conversation, Coach Quigley also spoke highly of Botond Szalma, who should make his third straight All-American team. His exact words were that "Botond Szalma has a great desire to win and a great competitive spirit." With the senior leading the way, it will not surprise me if St. Francis finds it way back to the final four.

St. Francis played two tough games over the weekend. They lost to Navy, 9-7, in overtime and then beat Bucknell, 12-9. The Terriers and Midshipmen have now alternated victories the first three times they have played each other this season.

6. Nobody will ever accuse Loyola Marymount coach John Loughran of ducking the competition. The Lions put up a great fight against Long Beach State before succumbing in overtime, 11-8. That game marked the 12th straight ranked opponent that Loyola Marymount has faced. The Lions may be 5-9 on the season, but they are a serious threat to win the WWPA and get to the final four. Tibor Forai may well be the most impressive freshman aside from Brian Dudley.

5. Terrible weekend for Bucknell. They went 1-3 with losses to Princeton, Navy and St. Francis. You have to wonder what is wrong up in Lewisburg as this is the second mediocre weekend in a row. Bucknell has moved from being a team with a shot at making the final four to being a team that may not finish in the top four at the Eastern Championships. Anybody who watched the Bison get their pants pulled down by Navy will agree.

You have to wonder if Bucknell is scared of Navy. The Midshipmen's win this Saturday represents their 13th straight over the Bison. Bucknell is good enough to beat them, and yet every time the Bison see Navy, they fold like a card table. This past Saturday Bucknell went down, 7-1, by halftime and never came back. At the ECAC Championships on Sept. 29, Bucknell fell behind, 7-3, at the half and lost, 9-7.

4. Pacific has slowly begun to circle the wagons, with the Tigers winning nine out of their last 10. To those quibbling about the competition, I would point out that on Saturday, Pacific beat George Washington,18-11. At the beginning of the season they had to hold on for a 17-15 win over them at the Navy Labor Day Open.

3. Navy had a statement weekend in avenging its loss to St. Francis at the ECAC Championships with a 9-7 overtime win over them on Sunday. This capped off a weekend which also included wins over Bucknell and Princeton. Mike Mulvey and Aaron Recko continued to lead the way. Mulvey is especially good. He could start for any program in the country.

2. UC Davis showed me something in losing to Cal, 17-12. I firmly believed that the Aggies played scared at the beginning of the season when they lost, 17-3, to the Golden Bears. I thought they were the kid that simply handed their lunch money over to the school bully instead of smacking them in the face. This Saturday UC Davis showed up and played with guts. Not only that, I liked that there was a fracas at the end of the game that led to five game exclusions. It means there will be some bad blood brewing if these two teams play each other in the Final Four. That can only make for appointment viewing on television and a hotly contested ballgame.

1. USC's 7-2 stifling of Stanford was a sight to behold. Keeping the Cardinal at two goals has to rate as the best defensive job of the season. USC and Cal are staying on track to battle it out once again for the national championship.

Player to Watch

Chay Lapin, UCLA: Lapin tied his career-high of thirteen saves in UCLA's 12-5 win over UC-Irvine. This was a game a lot of people thought UCLA was going to lose and Chay Lapin wouldn't let it happen. His performance in the cage keyed the Bruin win.

Contest To Keep An Eye On

The prestigious SoCal Tournament is this weekend and all the heavyweights will be there. There are two things to watch for.

First off, can anybody keep USC and Cal from playing each other for the tournament's championship?

Secondly, how will St. Francis fare against the West Coast big boys? The Terriers are playing better polo right now and need to get a win over a big West Coast team under their belt.

Other teams besides the aforementioned three competing in the tournament include Pepperdine, Stanford, UCLA, Long Beach State, UCSB, UC Irvine, Loyola Marymount, UC San Diego, Pacific, Bucknell, Pomona-Pitzer, Princeton and Redlands.

The Projected Final Four

1. California (MPSF Representative)

2. USC (at-large bid)

3. UC Davis (WWPA Representative)

4. Navy (Eastern Representative)

E-Mail of The Week

This week's e-mail came from Josh who identified himself as an ex-varsity player. His question was, "What do you think water polo needs to have happen in order to make a bigger move onto the national stage? Men's Lacrosse seems to be making the move that I always thought water polo could make."

The answer is simple. What lifted men's lacrosse to the level it is at now is that it emerged out of its regional shell. No longer is it thought of as just a sport that is big in the Northeast. The biggest thing holding men's water polo back is that it is still identified as a regional sport. Not having an NCAA champion from outside the state of California kills the sport's national viability. What we desperately need is an Eastern team and preferably a New York City team like St. Francis or Fordham to win the national championship. You get the East Coast media talking water polo and all of the sudden kids who are just swimming at the many age group clubs and teams that are up and down the East Coast become interested in the game. Capitalizing on the infrastructure swimming already has in place should be the top priority of United States Water Polo.