They score at a breakneck pace and wear teams down with speed and depth. Which Oregon team does this sound like? Strangely enough, it’s not the football team, but rather the men’s club water polo team.
Last season, the Ducks were ranked as high as sixth in the nation and finished with an 18-1 record.
However, after losing to Yale in the first round of nationals, members of the team considered the season a disappointment.
“We finished ninth in the nation and should have achieved more than we did last season,” University junior set man Aaron Bishow said.@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=aaron+bishow@@
That loss left a bad taste in the Ducks’ mouth but has given them more motivation to go the distance this year.
“This year we’ve got our eyes on the prize,” Bishow said. “We expect to win regionals and finish at nationals with at least a top-four finish.”
With all but three members returning, the season looks very bright for the Ducks. In their season-opening tournament last weekend, the Ducks finished 4-0, including wins against rivals Washington and Oregon State.
One indicator of potential success this season is Oregon’s team dynamic, which is continually developing.
“We trust in every single player on the team and their ability to make the right play,” Bishow said. “We’re in the pool five days a week for hours everyday, so we’ve gotten really close as a team and developed that chemistry.”
A few Ducks should stand out in the pool this season, such as senior team captain Conor Broom, sophomore utility man Harrison Tingler and Bishow.@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Conor+Broom@@@@http://www.facebook.com/#!/htingler@@
“Conor is the foundation of our team — he’s got more experience than anyone else,” Bishow said. “Harrison is a young, flashy player who can create plays on his own. And this season, I want to be a leader in and out of the pool.”
But even though these Ducks may stand out the most, “it’s still a collective team effort, and we feel we can throw in any guy on the team and still have success,” Bishow said.
This season, the Ducks will look to improve most on three aspects: their man-down defense, man-up offense and ball-handling skills.
“We need to be more efficient with our man-down defense. Once we have that down, we will be even tougher to beat,” Bishow said.
The Ducks live by a playful motto, loosely based off coach Gordon Bombay’s infamous speech in the “Mighty Ducks” movies:
“We’re just like Ducks, and Ducks fly together,” Bishow said. “The only difference is when we fly together, we score lots of goals.”
The man leading these Ducks will be Uros Zaklanovic, who is entering his second season as the Ducks’ coach. Zaklanovic came with his wife from Belgrade, Serbia, a few years ago and also coaches other teams in the Eugene area, including Marist High School.
“Coach Z had a really good first year for us last year,” Bishow said. “He earned the respect of the guys and pushes us to get better every day.”
The Ducks expect to make it back to nationals, which is held this year in Atlanta and hope their prior experiences aid them in doing better this time around.
Oregon takes part in its first tournament Oct. 15 and 16 in Corvallis, Ore.
For Oregon men’s club water polo, it’s nationals or bust
Daily Emerald
October 3, 2011
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