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No. 3 Cal Men's Water Polo Completes the 2008 Campaign

The Golden Bears finish the 2008 campaign 19-9

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Senior captain Frank Reynolds finished his senior campaign with 35 goals
 
Senior captain Frank Reynolds finished his senior campaign with 35 goals
  
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No. 2 Cal Men's Water Polo Travels to No. 3 Stanford for Big Splash

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No. 2 Cal Men's Water Polo Wins, 15-4, at No. 13 Santa Clara
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Dec. 2, 2008

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BERKELEY, CALIF. - 



Bear Bites


The No. 3 ranked California men's water polo team (19-9, 4-4), who were the defending 2006 and 2007 national champions, completed the 2008 season with a seventh-place finish at the MPSF Tournament at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool in Malibu. The No. 5 seed Golden Bears lost to No. 4 seed UCLA, 11-8, on Friday, Nov. 28 and No. 8 seed UC Irvine, 13-12, in sudden death overtime on Saturday, Nov. 29. Cal rebounded on Sunday, Nov. 30 to defeat No. 7 seed Long Beach State, 13-9, to conclude the 2008 campaign.


Recapping the 2008 Campaign


After winning the 2006 and 2007 NCAA titles, Cal opened the season ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Bears started the season 6-0 by winning the Navy Open and its first two matches of the NorCal Open. In the semifinal match of the NorCal Open, Cal fell to UCLA, 6-4. In the third-place match, the Bears fell in sudden death overtime to Stanford, 11-10. After the NorCal Open, Cal began MPSF play with a, 7-5, loss to Pepperdine for its first three game losing streak since 2004. Over the Bears next five matches, Cal went 4-1 avenging losses to both Pepperdine and UCLA in route to a third-place finish at the SoCal Open. After finishing third in the SoCal Open, the Bears went 7-2 over their next nine matches with MPSF conference wins at home against UC Santa Barbara and on the road against UC Irvine and Long Beach State. The two loses over that period were both MPSF conference matches at home against UCLA on a last second goal and at USC. Entering the final weekend of the regular season, Cal was 17-6 overall and 3-3 in the MPSF conference. In The Big Splash match against Stanford, Cal narrowly lost 9-8 to fall to 17-7 overall and 3-4 in the MPSF conference. The Bears rebounded with a, 10-7, win at Pacific to close out the regular season. With the win Cal finished the regular season tied for fifth in the MPSF conference with a 4-4 conference record and was ranked No. 3 in the nation with an 18-7 overall record.


After finishing the MPSF season at 4-4, Cal entered the MPSF tournament as the No. 5 seed. In order for the Bears to have a chance to defend their 2006 and 2007 national titles, Cal would need to win the MPSF tournament. In the quarterfinal match against UCLA, Cal fell, 11-8, to end it chances of winning its third straight national title. After losing its next match, the Bears rebounded to finish the 2008 season with a 13-9 victory over Long Beach State.


Throughout the season, Cal's offensive attacked displayed remarkable balance as the Bears had seven players averaging nearly one goal a match - junior All-American Spencer Warden 40 goals, senior captain Frank Reynolds 35 goals, senior captain Trent Calder 33 goals, freshman Ivan Rackov 31 goals, sophomore Brian Dudley 28 goals, sophomore Zach White 25 goals, and freshman Luka Saponjic 24 goals. Cal was only team in the MPSF with five players in the top 25 in goals per game average. Rackov led Cal with 33 assists, Warden had a team-high 68 steals, White toped the squad with 32 ejections earned and Calder has a team-best 14 field blocks. The Bears outscored their opponents 314-201 and had 381 steals, 287 assists, 233 ejections earned and 75 field blocks.


Reynolds was this season's (Sept. 8) first MPSF Co-Player of the Week after leading the team with 11 goals, and adding four assists, three steals, three ejections earned and two field blocks at the Navy Open on Sept. 6-7. Dudley was also named MPSF Co-Player of the Week (Nov. 17) after notching six goals in two matches, including the match winner in sudden death overtime versus the UC Irvine. Warden was named to the first-team All-MPSF first-team after leading the Bears with 40 goals and 68 steals.


The future looks bright for the Bears as they will return eight of the team's top 10 goal scorers next season. Cal only loses senior captains Calder and Reynolds. Both Calder and Reynolds were instrumental in the Bears winning the 2006 and 2007 NCAA titles. Calder finishes his Cal career with 96 goals, while Reynolds notched 68 goals in his Cal career.


Head Coach Kirk Everist


Everist (159-49, .765, seventh year) led the Bears to a 28-4 mark and the program's 13th NCAA crown in 2007. In 2006, he also led Cal to the NCAA title, and in 2002 was MPSF Coach of the Year after the Bears made their first NCAA appearance since 1995. A 1990 Cal graduate, Everist led the Bears to NCAA titles in 1987 and 1988, earning All-America honors from 1986-88 and NCAA Player of the Year in 1988. He was on the USA National Team for nine years (1988-96), competing in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. Everist's staff includes associate head coach Boyd Lachance (seventh year), and (fourth year), a 2000 USA Olympian who was a three-time All-American at Cal, helping lead the Bears to the 1991 and 1992 NCAA titles.