BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Princeton University men’s water polo coach Dustin Litvak discussed “Game Preparation” & “Attacking Different Defenses” on the March 6 “Coaches Corner” episode presented by the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA).
In his sixth season with Princeton University, Dustin Litvak has made his mark on the Tigers’ program.
The Princeton men’s water polo team set a program record with 28 wins in 2023 as the Tigers won its third straight Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) title and reached the NCAA Semifinals for the first time ever under the expanded format of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship bracket. The Tigers had three All-America honorees highlighted by Roko Pozaric’s first-team honors. He became the first Tiger to ever earn first-team All-America status and was also a Cutino Award finalist.
Princeton also set a new program mark with 471 goals and was the first CWPA team to win three straight conference crowns since Navy from 2006-08.
The team repeated as long champions once again in 2024.
The women’s water polo squad went undefeated in CWPA play in 2024 en route to its second straight conference title and was just the second time the Tigers have won in back-to-back years.
Kayla Yelensky was second-team All-America after producing a career-high 69 goals, 23 assists along with 47 drawn ejections and 31 steals. Lindsey Lucas was honorable mention All-America as she became just the third player in program history to be named CWPA Player of the Year. She went 18-7 this season with a .543 save percentage and 245 saves, adding 23 steals.
In the spring of 2023, the women’s team won its conference title for the first time since 2015 with a 12-8 victory over Harvard. The Tigers finished 30-4 overall becoming just the third team in program history record at least 30 victories (2014, 2015). Princeton reached the national semifinals for the first time ever and became the first non-West Coast to get to the Final Four since 2016. The Tigers also had four All-Americans for the first time in Princeton history.
The men’s 2022 season saw the men’s team have four All-America selections for the first time ever. It was also the first time that the program had reached the NCAA Quarterfinals in consecutive years following its victory over Fordham University. The team’s historical season included highlights such as defeating Stanford for the first time in program history and becoming NWPC Conference Champions for the second straight season.
Princeton’s men’s team defeated Brown University and then St. Francis College Brooklyn to earn the 2021 Northeast Water Polo Conference title, collecting the team’s sixth conference crown. The Tigers had 11 wins against nationally ranked opponents include a California trip that featured three straight victories over No. 17 Loyola Marymount University, No. 10 Pepperdine University, and No. 13 the University of California-Irvine. The women’s squad went 21-10 in 2022, placing third in the CWPA. The Tigers recorded eight wins over top-25 teams and posted at least 20 victories for the fourth straight full season.
The Princeton men’s squad went 16-15 overall in 2019 and advanced to the NWPC Tournament Championship for the second straight year. The Tigers went 19-11 in 2018 and won the Northeast Water Polo Conference title. Princeton finished No. 13 in the final Collegiate Water Polo Association Varsity Poll after securing the program’s sixth NCAA Tournament appearance.
Before his time at DeNunzio Pool, Litvak spent five seasons at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), working with the men’s and women’s water polo teams. From 2013-15, he was an assistant with the men’s team that won the 2014 national title, the first time UCLA had won the national championship in 10 years. Litvak then assisted with the women’s squad from 2015-2017, highlighted by an Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) championship and a second-place finish at the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
Prior to UCLA, Litvak earned coaching experience at Occidental College for one year (2007). He also was the head coach of the boys’ water polo team at his alma mater, Agoura High School, where he earned Marmonte League Coach of the Year nine straight years. Agoura won its first-ever CIF Championship in 2007 and three more additional crowns in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Litvak was a four-time CIF Coach of the Year (in Divisions 4 and 2) and a seven-time Los Angeles Daily News Coach of the Year. He was also a finalist for the Positive Coaching Alliance’s Double Goal Coach Award.
The former assistant also had a variety of assignments with USA Water Polo, serving as a coach with the men and women’s youth national squads. In 2017, the men’s youth national team won the goal medal at the 2017 UANA Youth Championships in Lima, Peru.
Litvak graduated from Pepperdine University in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications.
