Head coach Kyle Witt won his 300th career game in mid-September when the Cal State Fullerton men’s water polo team blasted Biola, 16-8. And last weekend, the Titans had an 11-game winning streak snapped when Cal Baptist’s Andrea Nuzzo broke an 11-11 tie with 3:37 left to pull out a 12-11 victory in the finale of the Gary Troyer Tournament in Claremont.
There is a connection between these two seemingly disparate happenings beyond what appears at first glance. Because both of these feats brought Witt into mental quandaries that illustrate where his head is on milestones and where his head is going in terms of where his program is going in its third year.
“It’s nice when my players get accolades, so I should enjoy this, too,” Witt said about his 300th win. “Getting wins is fun, but at the same time, I didn’t compete for two years because of COVID and then, a reduced schedule the next year. I lost some wins there, but I don’t care. Winning games isn’t something I’m focused on. If you do the other stuff, the wins will come.
“It will be a byline in my resume on my profile, but that’s about it.”
Well, OK. So what about that 11-game winning streak? An 11-game winning streak brought to you by a team featuring three freshmen getting significant minutes, a first-year goalkeeper and four players — led by junior Andrew Barnuevo’s 50 goals — who scored 30 or more goals?
“We still have a ways to go, and I don’t know how much better this team can get — and I mean that in a good way,” Witt said. “I don’t know where our ceiling lies. …
“We’re not where we want to be, but this program has taken big steps. Until we’re competing with Big West teams, I won’t know where we are. We competed last year, and I have to see where we are this year. Until we’re competing with Big West teams every single game, then I can answer the question that, yeah, we’re where we want to be.”
Using the Big West as a barometer makes sense because it’s no secret the Titans are truly in the deep end of the water polo pool. Waiting for them once conference play begins are five teams — all of which are nationally ranked: UC San Diego (No. 7), UC Davis (No. 8), Long Beach State (No. 9), UC Irvine (No. 13) and UC Santa Barbara (No. 17). As usual, the Titans are conspicuous by their absence in that club.
But as of last week, they’re conspicuous by their presence in the overall standings. CSUF’s 15-8 overall mark compares favorably to UCI (12-6), Long Beach State (9-5) and UCSB (14-10).
The way Witt looks at his milestone and what seems to be a milestone in a fledgling program is indicative of how he views his job and how he views a picture bigger than himself or any of his players. He often talks about how his players will remember what they did in — and for — this program 30, 40 years down the road. It’s that view on the memory-making, on the little things that make you lift glasses through your glasses at reunions that Witt has his eyes on.
Take the foundation he’s created and build on it through the process Witt stresses: mental discipline, constant adaptation and a team culture based on checking the drama and the egos before you commit to the Titans.
And when you commit to Witt, you’re all-in — and we’re not talking about all-in the pool. Two weeks ago, the Titans were coming off a four-game weekend tournament sweep at Cal Baptist University’s The Joust. Then came a rare Wednesday night game against McKendree. That’s four games in six days — and yet, the Titans weren’t done. Witt had more on the plate.
“I guarantee my team was dead-tired, but they have to go to the women’s soccer game tonight because we support the other programs at this school,” he said.
That karma flowed both ways. With the men’s water polo team in the stands, the women beat Hawai’I, 2-1, to remain unbeaten.
“When you get on this campus, you realize that Division 1 is a whole different thing. It’s not just a game or a mistake. It’s the whole day,” Witt said.
This explains how Witt built his third team. He signed 11 players who understand what it means to play Division 1 water polo in the second-toughest conference in the country. The 11 included Saddleback College expat Barnuevo, who, en route to those 50 goals, has found the back of the net nearly 57% of the time. It included left-handed sniper Ethan MacLeod (35 goals, 20 assists) from perennial state community college power/favored Witt recruiting stop West Valley College. And it included goalkeeper Ethan Ivey, a New Zealander by way of West Valley.
That adds to the United Nations flavor of a team that features players from Turkey (Togan Ozbek), New Zealand (Ivey), Hungary (Marton Thuroczy and Bende Aubeli), South Africa (MacLeod) and Italy (freshman Francesco Schiaffino). All but Ozbek, Thuroczy and Aubeli are newcomers. Schiaffino is one of those three freshmen, along with Luke Vargas and Sam Branco, who are seeing significant minutes.
It also adds a variable to a heretofore missing equation: depth. Witt said this marks the first time he has enough depth to properly answer a question that nagged at him his first two years: “Is the tired player I’m replacing better or worse than the fresh player I’m bringing in?”
Witt said most of the time, when he makes one of his six-player line changes, think hockey lines, the fresher players he’s bringing in will be better than the tired sextet they’re replacing.
“This is another step forward for our program. Our recruits are better, tougher and smarter,” he said. “It’s another step forward, but you have to understand we’re not going to be able to jump seven steps ahead. You have to take one step at a time. But this class is accomplished. We’re going to be a normal team. …
“Our returners have played three years of Division 1. You can stop having to define everything for them. When you tell them we’re playing Long Beach State, they know what that means. They have a point of reference on what it takes to compete with those guys.”
And Witt has another point of reference to define where the Titans are at in Year Three. It’s the process, that one step at a time, that only begins to define itself in the crucible of the Big West’s shark-infested waters.
And the crucible of what kind of waves this team leaves for its successors.
“This program has taken big steps. We’re just not at the finish line yet,” he said.