Big fish return to right the ship
SHUHEI MATSUO
Sports Editor
The guys are back.
After finishing its 2006 season with a disappointing 13-17 record, the Pepperdine water polo team is about to begin the 2007 campaign. But this time, four of the team’s top players — Matt MacDonell, Adam Hewko, Matt Digges and Grant Miller — will be back on roster after spending their redshirt junior year without competing in games.
“I’m more fired up to play than I have ever been,” MacDonell said. “The four guys who redshirted last year are ready to go again.”
Last season, MacDonell watched his younger brother JP lead the team. But this season, Matt will join his brother to enhance the MacDonell power in the pool.
Hewko, who spent his summer playing with the U.S. national team, comes back to the team with more confidence. He played against Brazil for the final game of the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on July 25 and contributed to a 9-2 victory by the Americans by scoring a goal.
He described the intensity of playing in this international tournament as being similar to soccer’s premier league in Europe.
“[The fans] are louder and crazier than any American fans. It would take like a million Americans to make the noise that 10,000 Brazilians do,” he said. “It was a blast.”
It wasn’t just a fun summer experience for Hewko. Playing at a high level with older players gave him an opportunity to improve, he said.
But the summer is over, and his focus is back on the team. And he says he can’t wait to begin the new season.
“I’m very excited because we have a great team and we are hungry,” he said. “We haven’t done anything in terms of proving to other teams that we deserve to be the champions. I guess we are kind of underdogs but not really. We know we are good. We know we can win.”
Even though last year’s team failed to go over .500 in winning percentage, in his first year as the head coach, Jack Kocur tries to take the things positively.
“Coming off last year was not necessarily a disappointing year, but it was actually a huge learning curve,” he said. “A lot of young guys got a lot of great experience, and I learned a lot myself, too. Now that the veterans are coming back, we can’t be any happier.”
Kocur comes back as the head coach again since Terry Schroeder, who was expected to return to Pepperdine this year, took the position as the U.S. Olympic head coach for 2008.
“I’m honor to be able to do this again,” Kocur said. “My family has been giving me the grace to do it, the players have accepted it. So I’m very excited to do it again.”
Kocur also named Caleb Hamilton and Andrew Milcovich as two of eight freshman players who could make immediate, strong impacts in the game.
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) on Aug. 15 released preseason rankings and ranked Pepperdine sixth. However, Kocur says he disagrees with his team’s ranking.
“Currently, I believe we are definitely No. 1 or 2 in the nation on paper,” he said. “It depends on how we perform in the water, and that’s the most crucial part of it all.”
It’s a new team and a new season, but the goal remains the same.
“Our team goal every year is to win the championship,” Kocur said. “But more importantly, to come here and perform our best. And if we can accomplish that, success will follow.”
MacDonnell echoed his coach.
“I expect to dominate some teams and have very close games with other teams,” he said. “But right now, we are looking to win.”
But success does not come with support.
“We are expecting tons of people us watching us,” he said. “We are going to do a lot of stuff, trying to have people come out. We want to have a big fan base. And we want to win.”
The Waves will begin their 2007 campaign Sept. 1 at the San Diego Triton Tournament in San Diego.
08-27-2007