University of Maryland Athletics

Carl Salyer, a former water polo player at UCLA and assistant coach at the Naval Academy, is in his eighth season as Maryland's head women's water polo coach.

Salyer, the second head coach in program history, has gradually improved the team since he took over in 2005.

Maryland finished 19-14 last season which included a perfect 4-0 regular-season mark in the CWPA Southern Division.

The Terps also shined in the postseason, finishing third in the 2011 CWPA Eastern Championship which matched the best showing in school history and helped Salyer earn the Doc Hunkler Coach of the Tournament award.

That ending enabled the Terps to claim 17th place in the final national poll, the highest-ever finish in school history.

Two years earlier, the Terps had a program-record third-place finish CWPA Eastern Championship. They also finished 18th in the final CWPA national poll, the second-best showing in school history.

Maryland has also been impressive outside the pool in Salyer's tenure.

Nine Terps were placed on the 2011 CWPA Women's Varsity Scholar-Athlete Team and Maryland was one of just 16 teams in the CWPA to post a grade-point average above 3.0 last season.

One year earlier, seven Maryland student-athletes earned spots on the ACWPC All-Academic Team and seven were on the CWPA Scholar-Athlete Team.

Eleven Terps were named to 2009 CWPA Scholar-Athlete Team and eight players earned Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-Academic honors that season.

In 2008, the Terps posted a school-record 22 wins and a fourth-place finish in the CWPA Eastern Championship. Maryland ended the year receiving votes in the final national poll and narrowly missed out on an NCAA bid.

In his first year, Salyer turned around a Terrapin program that was winless in its inaugural season (2004), directing Maryland to a 12-19 mark.

During the 2006 season he led the Terps to the program's first winning record (19-14 overall). That season Maryland qualified for the CWPA Eastern Division Championship and placed seventh.

The Terps record took a dip in 2007 to 16-18, due to a significantly upgraded schedule. However, the Terps won the CWPA Southern Division tournament for the first time and finished sixth in the CWPA Eastern Championship.

The fruits of Salyer's labor paid dividends in 2008 as the Terps competed with and beat the top programs in the country. The Terrapins played Indiana three times, including posting a victory in the CWPA Eastern Championship. The Terps also took both CWPA Eastern Championship finalists, Michigan and Hartwick, to overtime during the regular season.

Salyer, a southern California native, came to Maryland after serving as an assistant coach at Navy since 1999. Salyer helped guide the Midshipmen to the 2000 and 2003 NCAA Final Four.

Prior to his time at Navy, Salyer spent five years working with the Naval Academy Aquatic Club. He guided the Navy AC 18 & Under women's team to the National Junior Olympic Championship in August of 2000 and coached the U.S. Men's National Youth "B" Team in the summer of 2002. He also guided the Navy AC to back-to-back championships at the Maui Invitational. His coaching experience on the club level has helped place many men and women in Division I programs.

As a player, Salyer competed at Golden West (Calif.) Community College for two seasons and at perennial national power UCLA for one. Salyer earned a degree in kinesiology from the University of Maryland in 2004.