ARMATO BACK IN TEAM FOCUS : BY LEE BARNATHAN.

Byline: University Beat

Matt Armato considers himself ``super fortunate.'' He won a Southern Section water polo title at Long Beach Wilson and followed that with two NCAA titles at UCLA.

But there was just one thing through the good times: Armato's confidence was shaky. If he missed his first couple of shots in a match, he became unreliable.

``I was so intent on doing so well, that I felt when I didn't get things going, I would let my emotions play too much into my play,'' he said. ``I've been able to harness my over-aggressiveness and play in the moment.''

It took some time away from the game to help, but Armato has returned from last year's redshirt season to lead the 9-2, No. 2-ranked Bruins with 22 points, including four two-point goals. He's first with 50 shot attempts, seven steals and four field saves, and he needs just two more two-point goals to break the school record.

``Can you believe it?'' UCLA co-coach Adam Krikorian said. ``He's playing pretty well.''

Armato redshirted last year to stick around for a fifth season, but the time away from competition also helped him realize a missed shot is just that and there's no reason to lose focus.

He also saw how the younger players looked to him for leadership, causing him to become a more positive example.

Krikorian thought Armato wanted to redshirt because he considered walking away from the game, but Armato disagrees.

``I don't regret redshirting,'' he said. ``I was never ready to walk away. I didn't ask for any time away. I was in practice every day.''

Armato was key in his team's win over Stanford and assuming the top spot in the national poll, only to see USC beat the Bruins in last weekend's NorCal tournament. Now, it's the Trojans who are No. 1.

Armato said it doesn't matter. UCLA's goal now is to go undefeated in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and win the tournament when it begins Nov. 26 in Irvine.

``I'm the only player left from those championship teams,'' Armato said. ``This is my last chance to make a mark.''

Also: Pepperdine's volleyball team has three of the West Coast Conference's five leading hitters. Jamie Hill is second with a .365 mark, followed by Melissa Plass (.355) and Stacy Rouwenhorst (.331). . . . The Pepperdine doubles team of Dorothee Kurz and Ipek Senoglu won the Arizona State Thunderbirds Invitational, beating Cal's Claire Curran and Amy Jensen 8-4. . . . USC water polo player Allan Basso earned MPSF Player of the Week honors for the second time. It was Basso's two-pointer with 33 seconds remaining that gave the Trojans a 12-10 victory over Stanford in the NorCal semifinals. Basso leads the conference with 34 points, is tied for first with six two-point goals and is tied for second with 22 one-point goals. . . . UCLA soccer forward Sasha Victorine is second in scoring with 19 points (8 goals, 3 assists). Teammate Shaun Tsakiris is first in assists with eight, followed by CSUNs Federico Arroyo with six. . . . Want a major reason UCLA's women's volleyball team beat Stanford for the first time in five years? Look no farther than sophomore Kristee Porter. She won Pac-10 Player of the Week honors after getting 21 kills against Stanford. Her season totals: 258 kills in 15 matches, 5.16 kills per game. Although just a sophomore, Porter already is third on the Pac-10's list of active career kills leaders with 867.

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PHOTO Matt Armato won a state water polo title at Long Beach Wilson High and two NCAA titles at UCLA.

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