For the first time in two decades, the club water polo team competed this weekend in the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship, ending up among the top 10 college and university water polo teams in the country.
On Thursday, the team flew to University of California, San Diego, to compete against 15 other schools in a three-day national tournament. The Terrapins finished in 10th place behind University of California, San Diego, achieving their goal to place in the top 10 nationally.
“This year we accomplished everything we set out to do, improved on our finishes from the last two years, and became the first UMD team to make nationals since 1993,” said senior Nate Hukill, the team’s social chair. “I can’t imagine a better ending to the careers of our seniors who have put so much time and effort into the program.”
In the competition, the Terrapins won two games and lost two, first losing, 11-6, to University of California before back-to-back wins against Miami (11-10) and Ohio State (7-5). The Terrapins ended in 10th place after losing, 7-11, to University of California, San Diego in their last game. University of California, Los Angeles took home the first-place title, followed by Lindenwood University.
Since the team’s rebirth in the early 2000s after a period of inactivity, this university’s water polo team has been steadily increasing in skill, said club vice president Adam Neiss. Water polo is typically a “West Coast sport,” so it’s sometimes difficult to maintain a polo team at this university, the senior physical sciences major said. Team members come from a variety of experience levels and backgrounds, ranging from those who come from careers in competitive swimming to some with no water sports experience at all.
The team has been decreasing in size over the past four years, Neiss said. But several teammates said the smaller team allowed them to grow more and improve in skill. The team has grown progressively closer, club president Dave Roberts said, and Neiss said new players were able to learn the game faster and receive more individualized attention.
“We have a few freshmen and a few sophomores — most of them never played water polo before college, just like me, but they’re improving quickly and understanding the game,” Neiss said.
Over the weeks leading up to the national championship, the players perfected their offensive and defensive techniques, mostly through scrimmaging. The team was both excited and focused during practices, Roberts said.
The team had a 7-1 regular season record from tournaments at Virginia Tech in late September and James Madison University in mid-October. Later that month, the Terps won the Atlantic Division championship at Virginia Tech.
Making it to nationals has been “a long time coming,” Hukill said. In 2011, the team made it to the regional championship game but they lost in the final round. The following year, they were undefeated in the regular season but lost to the U.S. Naval Academy and Virginia Tech in the championships.
So just competing at nationals was a feat in itself, Hukill said, with the 10th-place finish an extra accomplishment.
“We’ve had a balanced team with a lot of players who have played for a long time,” Hukill said. “We’re really tight as a team … we’re just pumped to be there.”
