KRIKORIAN HEAD COACH • 11Th Year Alma Mater: UCLA ’97 Career Record: 263-38 (10 Years)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
COACHING STAFF ADAM KRIKORIAN HEAD COACH • 11th year Alma Mater: UCLA ’97 Career Record: 263-38 (10 years) There may not be another head coach in any sport throughout the country who has accomplished more than Adam Krikorian in such a short span. In his 16 years with UCLA’s water polo program as both a player and a coach, Krikorian has won an unprecedented 14 national titles – 10 as a head coach, three as an assistant coach and one as a student-athlete. This spring, Krikorian enters his 11th season as head coach of the UCLA women’s water polo team and his ninth alone at the helm. In 1999, he served as interim head coach while Guy Baker coached the U.S. Women’s National Team. As women’s water polo head coach, Krikorian has guided UCLA to seven national championships (six NCAA titles) and boasts a remarkable .874 winning percentage (263-38 record). Krikorian’s women’s water polo teams have won 89 percent of their conference matches and have finished with a perfect 12-0 MPSF record twice (2005, 2008) A former standout on the men’s water polo team from 1992-95, Krikorian has earned National Women’s Water Polo Coach of the Year honors five times – 2001, 2005-08. Krikorian received National Men’s Coach of the Year honors in 2004 after having led the UCLA men’s program to its eighth NCAA championship. Four of Krikorian’s student-athletes have earned ACWPC Player of the Year honors five times – Elaine Zivich (2000), Natalie Golda (2005), Kelly Rulon (2006, 2007) and Courtney Mathewson (2008). Over the past four seasons, the UCLA women’s water polo program has totaled a 123-6 mark and has won 46 of 48 conference matches. Krikorian has earned ACWPC Coach of the Year accolades in each of those four seasons. Last spring, Krikorian coached the UCLA women’s water polo program to its fourth consecutive NCAA championship and its second undefeated season in the last four years. The Bruins duplicated their 33-0 overall record from the 2005 season and compiled a perfect 12-0 mark in MPSF competition. Six Bruins earned ACWPC All-America honors, and senior Courtney Mathewson captured the coveted Peter J. Cutino Award, an honor bestowed upon the top women’s and men’s water polo athlete in the nation. Junior goalkeeper Brittany Fullen established the program’s single-season saves record, making 237 stops in all 33 contests. In 2007, Krikorian led the women’s team to its third consecutive NCAA championship, allowing UCLA to become the first university to win 100 NCAA team championships. The Bruins posted a 28-2 record, earning the MPSF Tournament title before winning the NCAA championship. Kelly Rulon concluded her senior season by breaking UCLA’s all-time scoring record (237 goals) before winning the Peter J. Cutino Award. The 2007 campaign marked the end of two illustrious careers under Krikorian’s tutelage. Rulon and Emily Feher both concluded their careers at UCLA as four-time All-America selections, earning first-team All-America honors in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Both standout student-athletes were named third-team selections as freshmen – Rulon in 2003 and Feher in 2004. Feher became the first goalkeeper in program history to have competed on three national championship teams. Adam Krikorian Year-by-Year (Women’s Water Polo) Adam Krikorian Year-by-Year (Men’s Water Polo) Year Overall Conf. Finish Year Overall Conf. Finish 1999 24-10 6-3 3rd 1999 22-3 8-0 NCAA Champions 2000 30-5 8-1 National Champions 2000 19-7 6-2 NCAA Champions 2001 18-4 9-1 NCAA Champions 2001 16-5 7-1 NCAA Runner-up 2002 22-4 10-1 NCAA Runner-up 2002 15-8 4-4 5th 2003 24-4 8-2 NCAA Champions 2003 20-7 7-1 3rd 2004 22-5 9-2 2nd 2004 25-3 8-0 NCAA Champions 2005 33-0 12-0 NCAA Champions 2005 21-8 5-3 5th 2006 29-4 11-1 NCAA Champions 2006 17-6 6-2 3rd 2007 28-2 11-1 NCAA Champions 2007 21-7 5-3 5th 2008 33-0 12-0 NCAA Champions 2008 16-8 5-3 4th Totals 263-38 96-12 7 Championships (6 NCAA) Totals 192-62 61-19 3 NCAA Championships Assistant Coaching Record (Women’s Water Polo) Assistant Coaching Record (Men’s Water Polo) Year Overall Conf. Finish Year Overall Conf. Finish 1997 31-1 6-0 National Champions 1996 24-6 6-2 NCAA Champions 1998 35-1 9-0 National Champions 1997 14-12 4-4 6th Totals 66-2 15-0 2 Championships 1998 17-6 6-2 3rd Totals 55-24 16-8 1 NCAA Championship 2009 UCLA WOMEN’S WATER POLO COACHING STAFF Krikorian led the women’s team to back-to-back championships in the spring of 2006, as UCLA registered a 29-4 overall record and an 11-1 MPSF mark. Marked ADAM KRIKORIAN AT UCLA by stellar defense, the 2006 Bruins held its opposition to 4.1 goals per game, the lowest average in the nation. Among the most memorable moments in UCLA water 1992 polo history, the Bruins defeated top-seeded USC in the NCAA Championship with a Adam Krikorian begins his career as a Bruin in the fall of 1992, playing as a true freshman on last-second goal by then-sophomore Courtney Mathewson. the men’s water polo team. That year, Krikorian The start of UCLA’s “four-peat” began in 2005, the last school year in which Krikorian scores 10 goals on 23 attempts. led both the women’s and men’s water polo teams to NCAA titles. Led by Cutino Award 1995 winner Natalie Golda, UCLA rolled to a 33-0 overall record – the third undefeated Led by co-captain Adam Krikorian, the UCLA season in NCAA water polo history. Coaching a team that featured three Olympians men’s water polo team captures its first NCAA (Golda, Kelly Rulon and Thalia Munro), Krikorian helped lead the Bruins to a 3-2 victory Championship since 1972. In the Bruins’ 10-8 over Stanford in the 2005 NCAA Championship. win over California in the title contest, Krikorian scores two goals. Earlier that school year, Krikorian guided the men’s team to its best winning YEAR G ATT PCT percentage since 1972. The 2004 men’s squad registered a perfect 8-0 MPSF 1992 10 23 43% mark and rattled off an 18-game win streak, which included the NorCal Tournament 1993 15 44 34% title and multiple victories over Stanford, California and USC. 1994 22 53 42% 1995 31 68 46% In 2003, Krikorian and the women’s water polo team made their fourth consecutive Totals 78 188 41% appearance at the national championship contest and won the third national title in program history. UCLA finished the season with a 24-4 overall mark, including an 8-2 1997 conference record. With an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Bruins cruised Krikorian serves as a student assistant coach past Loyola Marymount in the semifinals before overcoming a 2-0 deficit in the title on the men’s and women’s water polo teams in 1996-97 before graduating from UCLA match to defeat Stanford, 4-3. with a psychology degree and a business In just his third year at the helm, Krikorian guided the Bruins to the inaugural NCAA administration emphasis in June 1997. title in 2001 – UCLA’s second consecutive national championship. Krikorian coached 1999 standout seniors Coralie Simmons and Kristin Guerin that spring, just months after In the spring of 1999, Krikorian assumes co- having led the men’s water polo team to its second straight NCAA title. head coaching duties of the women’s water polo team with Guy Baker. As co-head coaches that In 2000, Krikorian led the Bruins to the national championship in just his first season fall, Krikorian and Baker lead the men’s team as the program’s sole head coach. After having coached alongside Guy Baker in to the NCAA Championship. 2000 1999, Krikorian made sure the women’s program did not skip a beat. The Bruins Krikorian and Baker coach the men’s and posted a 30-5 overall record in 2000 after having finished 24-10 in 1999. women’s teams to national championships. The women’s program captures its first Krikorian was promoted to co-head coach prior to the 1999 women’s season. The national title in May, and the men’s team wins former Bruin standout served as an assistant to the women’s team in 1997 and its second consecutive title in December. 1998 and to the men’s team from 1996 through 1998. 2005 During the 1996-97 school year, Krikorian served as a student assistant coach as Krikorian leads the women’s team to the he completed his undergraduate studies, assisting Baker in leading both squads to first of its four consecutive NCAA titles. The Bruins finish the season with a perfect 33-0 national championships. record, defeating Stanford by a 3-2 margin As a senior captain in 1995, Krikorian helped lead UCLA to its first men’s water polo in the championship match. national championship since 1972. Krikorian scored two goals in the Bruins’ 10-8 2008 win over California in the NCAA championship game. During his senior season, he Keyed by conference Co-Player of the Year registered a team-best 31 goals, including one two-pointer, while earning second- selections Courtney Mathewson and Jillian team All-America honors and second-team All-MPSF accolades.