Men's Water Polo Q&A: Marko Asic
9/30/2016 11:49:00 AM | Men's Water Polo, Competing With Purpose Blog
Marko Asic, a sophomore on the Pepperdine men's water polo team, was the team's top scorer as a freshman and is once again on top of the chart this season. The 8-4 Waves will play their first-ever Golden Coast Conference matchup this Sunday at home against Pacific. We asked him about the team heading into this matchup:
Q: Conference season is coming up, with the first game against Pacific this Sunday. How do you think the early-season games have prepared your team for the conference schedule?
A: It is going to be a tough game this Sunday for sure. Pacific is ranked fourth in the nation, and we are ninth. More than just the conference opener, it is also our home opener, so there are a little bit more expectations, and we all hope that there is a good crowd that shows up.
Q: The water polo team is in a new conference this year, the Golden Coast Conference. Is there a different feeling knowing that the Pac-12 teams are no longer in the same conference as you?
A: Absolutely. It is a little better for us mentally, because we know that there is a really good chance of winning conference. Over the summer we actually beat Pacific in the finals of the Gold Coast summer tournament. It is now just an uphill battle to see how well we have pushed ourselves mentally and physically in practice and hope that it transfers to the games.
Q: How is the team confidence coming into the conference season, and what are expectations like in the locker room?
A: This year is a little different from last year, and even in years past. We have been getting to know each other as people rather than teammates who you play alongside during games.We hang out more outside the pool, and that camaraderie has transferred into the pool. We play a lot more for each other rather than just playing for yourself and racking up the stats. Each player tries to help the other out, and it's really been paying off. We had a great start to the season and hopefully we can keep this confidence going into conference play.
Q: You scored a team-high 45 goals last season. Is there an expectation of yourself to lead the Waves in scoring again?
A: It's not in my mind too much, honestly. Everybody in the pool is running the plays, and they happen to trust me with putting the ball in the back of the net. I take all of our penalties, which boosts those stats a little when the goals could have gone to other players. It is really them doing all of the work, and I am really fortunate that they put the ball in my hands to put shots on goal. I really am just a cog in a much larger machine that is our team.
Q: You are a sport administration major here at Pepperdine. What would you like to do after college with that?And is playing professional water polo an aspiration of yours?
A:I haven't really thought about after college too much. I kind of have a family history of playing water polo professionally in Europe, so that is definitely something that I would like to do.
