Men’s water polo: CdM pair looks for NCAA title at UCLA

LA JOLLA - UCLA seniors and former Corona del Mar High standouts

James Palda and Neil Hueston will attempt to aid the Bruins to their

third NCAA men’s water polo title in the past five years this weekend at

UC San Diego.

UCLA (20-3), the top seed in the four-team tournament will take on

fourth-seeded University of Massachusetts (28-3) today at 1:30 p.m.,

before No. 2 Stanford and No. 3 UC San Diego do battle in the other

semifinal matchup.

The winner of the each semifinal contest will play for the NCAA crown

Sunday at 1:30, while the losers of each match will participate in the

third-place game, set for Sunday at noon.

Palda, a member of the Bruins’ 1996 national championship team, has

scored 23 goals in his four-year career, while Hueston, who transferred

from Cal in 1996, has scored 10 goals in his two seasons at UCLA.

Both Palda and Hueston played three years of varsity water polo at

CdM, where the Sea Kings were CIF Southern Section Division I finalists

in 1993 and ’94.

As seniors at CdM, both Palda and Hueston were named the Sea View

League’s co-Players of the Year.