College Water Polo Preview : Schroeder Plans for Waves to Swell Next Season

MALIBU —  Under better circumstances, seniors Alan Herrmann and Jack Kocur would return this season to lead Pepperdine’s water polo team after combining for 84 goals in 1995.

But these are unstable times for the Waves. A predominance of inexperienced players has prompted Coach Terry Schroeder to sacrifice the present for the future. Herrmann and Kocur will use redshirt seasons this year.

The tactic, known as stacking, is a common practice in college water polo. This is the third time since 1988 that Pepperdine will sit out its top two returning scorers in an effort to build for the following season.

In the meantime, the Waves expect to suffer growing pains with a roster that includes 18 underclassmen.

Pepperdine opens the season Sept. 14 in the SoCal tournament at Newport Harbor High.

“I hate to say struggle, but it’s going to be a tough year,” said Will Cain, one of the team’s four seniors. “Without Alan and Jack, we’re losing a lot of leadership right off the bat. But it’s going to make for a really good team next year.”

Schroeder’s intent is to help Pepperdine become a contender for an NCAA Championships berth in 1997. With several of the nation’s top teams boasting strong returning groups, Schroeder thought it was best to have his younger players gain valuable experience while not allowing Herrmann’s and Kocur’s eligibility to run out.

Pepperdine was 15-9 and ranked No. 5 in the nation last season, but graduated its six leading scorers after Herrmann and Kocur.

“When you see what’s out there, it’s going to be a very competitive year,” Schroeder said. “[Defending NCAA champion] UCLA returns almost everybody. [NCAA runner-up] Cal was very young last year. USC has a good returning bunch.

“We want to maximize our team’s strength in the final year for Alan and Jack. Our goal as coaches is to make the NCAAs.”

Reaching the NCAA Championships became more difficult in 1995, when the qualifying field was reduced from eight to four teams. Only two teams from the ultracompetitive, nine-team Mountain Pacific Sports Federation--UCLA and Cal--advanced to last season’s tournament.

Pepperdine’s players understand the motivation behind stacking the roster for 1997, but that won’t make this season any easier for some of them.

Kocur, a former Royal High standout who last season scored 30 goals and received All-American honorable mention, can’t imagine what it’s going to be like to sit poolside during games. Counting club water polo, he hasn’t missed a season since the fourth grade.

“It’s definitely going to be hard sitting on the bench and not be able to do anything about it,” Kocur said. “You’ll see me biting my nails and biting my tongue out there.”

Kocur and Herrmann, the team’s leading scorer in each of the past three seasons, will be able to make their presence felt only during practice, and that won’t be easy, Kocur said.

“When you’re not playing, it’s hard to motivate yourself in practice,” he said. “But I have to keep a positive attitude or the team is going to think I’m giving up on them.”

Schroeder says Pepperdine is not writing off the season, even though the Waves posted their last two losing records (8-17 in 1988 and 10-17 in 1993) when they sat out their top returning scorers. The Waves benefited the following seasons, posting winning records and reaching the NCAA Championships.

“You don’t want to think you’re just throwing the season away,” said Schroeder, a former Pepperdine standout and four-time Olympian who is beginning his 11th season as the Waves’ coach.

“I don’t think we’ll have a losing season. I think we’ll be in the hunt for knocking off some good teams and playing with everybody.”

With Herrmann and Kocur out, the role of senior leader falls to Matt Wynn, who scored two goals last season. Wynn and junior Brian McAlister, who also scored two goals in 1995, are the Waves’ top returning scorers.

Wynn cannot take a redshirt season because he has already sat out a year.

“He’s going to have a heavy load,” Kocur said of Wynn. “I feel bad because it’s hard not having him redshirt, too. But verbally and through action, he’s shown he’s a leader. He’s going to do very well.”

Because of the team’s lack of proven scorers, Pepperdine will have to play exceptional defense and mount effective counterattacks to be successful, Schroeder said.

The biggest hole the Waves have to fill is at the two-meter position, where Herrmann scored 54 goals last season on his way to making second team All-American. Sophomore Todd King and freshman Chris Tilden will share the job.

Others expected to contribute include sophomore goaltender Merrill Moses, who earned the majority of playing time last year; sophomores Christian Jensen and Alex Steinheimer, a transfer from Chaminade University in Hawaii; and juniors Andy Bruininga and Alex Rodriguez, both junior college transfers.

Bruininga, from Ventura College, played with Kocur at Royal.