Other 2011-2012 Storylines: Baseball | M. Hoops | W. Hoops | Volleyball | Tennis | Swimming
Cal water polo saw a pair of terrific seasons end bitterly in 2010-2011.
The women set milestone after milestone during a banner campaign, capturing their first-ever MPSF tournament crown and making the program’s NCAA title game debut — only to lose to Stanford for the 31st consecutive time.
On the men’s side, the Bears dropped a hard-fought overtime contest and had to watch in their home pool as USC celebrated a third consecutive championship.
The sweetener? Both squads are still loaded and primed for redemptive title runs.
Cal’s women weren’t supposed to have such rapid success this spring. The Bears lost six senior scorers from 2010′s third-place team, but filled the voids with an influx of young talent. Freshmen Ashley Young and Kelly Mendoza started pretty much from the get-go, combining to score 68 goals on the year. Breda Vosters nearly topped that total herself, exploding for 63 scores in a breakout sophomore season.
The best part? Everyone is back from 2011′s NCAA runners-up, including standout goalie Stephanie Peckham and star driver Emily Csikos, who return to Berkeley for their final seasons.
The men, on the other hand, do lose important pieces. All-American center Zach White is gone along with Brian Dudley … but that’s why it helps to welcome back the best player in the country.
Ivan Rackov, the 2010-2011 Peter J. Cutino Award winner, returns after putting up a monster junior season: 79 goals to go with 82 assists and 70 steals. Two other top scorers return — Luka Saponjic and Cory Nasoff — as does one the conference’s better goalies in Justin Parsons.
And for the second straight year, Cal will host the men’s NCAA tournament at Spieker Aquatics Complex.
The stage, then, is perfectly set for water polo redemption. Now both contenders must do their part and perform.
Image Source: Victoria Chow and Allyse Bacharach/Daily Cal
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