COSTA MESA, Calif. – Head coach Adam Wright and junior attacker Ryder Dodd represented the UCLA men’s water polo team Monday at MPSF Media Day, hosted by the Costa Mesa Marriott. California, Stanford and USC each also had its head coach and a player on hand, while the MPSF East programs joined via Zoom.

UCLA has won back-to-back NCAA championships and 14 in program history entering 2026. The Bruins return seven of their top eight goal scorers from a group that set a school record in the category last year with 497 (109 more than the second closest MPSF West team). UCLA outlasted crosstown rival and No. 1 USC 11-10 in the 2025 title game, with Frederico Jucá Carsalade’s buzzer beater the difference. Carsalade is back in 2026.

Also returning in 2026 is Dodd, who swept the national player-of-the-year awards in each of his first two years. Dodd has already netted 200 career goals, including 102 in 2024 that set an MPSF record and a new top mark for UCLA freshmen. He made his Olympics debut in 2024 as the youngest member of Team USA (18 years old) and scored eight goals in Paris to help the Stars and Stripes claim bronze.

“I think just me being an older guy, being in the program for now almost three years, I think it's important for me to hold the standard and pave the path that the newcomers and the transfers are going to see,” said Dodd. “I think if I fall off that path, I'm not really setting a good example because at the same time, it's not really how many times I score, how many times I block the ball or whatever, but rather just the role model I am, whether that's my work ethic or things like that.”

Already a member of both the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame and the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame, Wright returns for his 18th season as head coach of the Bruins in 2026. He has been at the helm for six of the program’s NCAA championships and has helped his alma mater collect 11 overall: six as men’s head coach, three as a student-athlete, one as women’s head coach and one as a women’s assistant coach. Wright boasts a 397-70 (.850) career record with the men that includes a 77-26 (.748) mark in conference play.

“Really, [the players] drive the conditions,” said Wright. “They set the standards, and if we're going to do it again, it's going to come from the group. What we do know is, we're up against something that UCLA's never done, trying to get there again for three. But we also know we have our work cut out, and like Ryder said, we’ve got a motivated group, a new group. We have guys that have never done it before. We have players who are transferring in that have never done it. So it'll be exciting. It'll be an exciting process, but it's got to be harder than it was the last two years. Period."