In Maureen Flanagan's first year as Michel Roy's assistant coach at the University of Hawai'i, the NCAA reached out and slapped the Rainbow Wahine water polo team. Flanagan has been knocked down by the sport before, and found ways to prove her resiliency.

In this second phase of her water polo life, after an All-American career at UCLA and a wondrous year with the national team that ended just short of the Athens Olympics, Flanagan never sets a bare foot in the pool. She plans to keep it that way.

"I'm a little scared. I'm really out of shape," the Punahou graduate said. "After I got cut from the national team I think I've been in just once or twice. I've lost 25 pounds. I'm not strong anymore. I've lost my feel for the water.

"I have this little theory: If I get in the water and they (her players) tool me, they can just burn me, then they're not going to respect me as a coach. So I kind of like staying on the deck and telling them 'I once knew how to play, believe me.' "

Flanagan is arguably the best female player to come from Hawai'i. She was the next-to-last national team cut in 2004. Nothing in the sport came close to that huge individual disappointment until it was matched collectively 11 months ago, when the NCAA selection committee picked San Diego State ahead of the Rainbow Wahine for the NCAA Championship field.

Days earlier, Hawai'i had hammered the Aztecs, 19-12, at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship. Roy and Flanagan were irate, their players shocked and saddened. The seniors were heartbroken.

Nearly a year later, the fifth-ranked 'Bows go into their most critical week of home matches with a five-game winning streak, their best start in seven years (12-3) and a new outlook on collegiate water polo life in paradise — to say nothing of their match at SDSU April 8.

They were told the decisive factor in last year's slap in the face was strength of schedule, because San Diego State had played so many more matches. SDSU has no problem scheduling record-enhancing opponents such as Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Pomona-Pitzer and Cal State Bakersfield.

Not coincidentally, Roy has extended the last regular-season road trip of this season so UH can play Claremont, Pomona and Sonoma State, on the same day.

"I've asked for another $25,000 for my budget next year (for another road trip), " he said, still angry. "I'm not going to get it, but that's the way it's gotta be. That (last year) was a sad moment, a very sad moment."

Flanagan also remembers, too vividly, the pain her players suffered last year. She won three national titles at UCLA and was Adam Krikorian's undergraduate assistant for a year while she finished her degree in business economics. She thinks she has discovered her true calling in coaching the collegiate game she loves, especially after the last two seasons with Roy.

"I like the girls. I'm here for the girls," said Flanagan, who also won three state high school freestyle championships at Punahou. "There's a lot of paperwork, a lot of planning and stuff that isn't the most fun thing in the world. But when you're on the deck and able to connect with the girls and teach them things ...

"There's a lot of stuff going on in their lives outside of the water so it's good to be there for them. If they're not comfortable coming to 'Mich' they can come to me. It's something I definitely want to be doing and I like working with 'Mich.' I'm learning a lot. He's a great coach. He definitely has a different outlook on a lot of things. He listens to me and I learn."

Flanagan describes Roy as a "great technician" who can "make someone out of nothing." It is a necessary skill at Hawai'i, which does not attract the elite California athletes. She sees players develop here. At UCLA she never remembers working on individual mechanics.

She would love to shake Krikorian's hand Friday as the winning coach. Hawai'i has never beaten the Bruins or Stanford. This team, even with only two seniors, has a shot. The 'Bows are bigger, better and faster than last year, according to their coaches. Concentration and a killer instinct can be a problem.

"We're missing the desire to win," Roy said. "The mental fire. ... We can beat Stanford and UCLA. I believe that. I hope the girls believe it."

NOTES

Hawai'i junior Kelly Mason is third in MPSF scoring at 2.4 goals a game. UH is third in scoring as a team (11.13 goals a game), but ninth in goal defense (8.2).

The MPSF Women's Water Polo Championship is April 24 to 27 at SDSU. The eighth annual NCAA Women's Water Polo National Championship is May 9 to 11 at Stanford. Champions from the five national conferences get automatic bids and three teams receive at-large bids.

Stanford has two players from Hawai'i — freshman goalie Kim Hall out of Punahou and freshman Kim Krueger, who went to 'Iolani before moving to Northern California. Punahou graduate Kamaile Crowell is a senior for UCLA. Former Olympic goalie Brandon Brooks, another Punahou graduate, is a Bruins' assistant coach.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.