"Skav" spent 3 years building a team worthy of competition with the best teams in the country.

This couldn't have been the opportunity that Matt Skavnak was thinking about. He even admitted that when he first received an e-mail asking him to be the first coach of the GVSU Water Polo Club, he laughed. After some careful consideration, he decided to reply which began the blueprints to the success for the GVSU Water Polo Club.

As a Coach, Matt was not given a deep roster of polished talent. He was given a group of guys who loved to play and who were grateful for the opportunity to play again. Matt was very desirous that GVSU's Water Polo Club have a reputation as a quality program both in and out of the pool. In the pool, he stressed fundamentals of the game, defense and outsmarting your opponent. At times it seems that Matt has taken pages from his coaching philosophies from such coaching greats as Bobby Knight, Vince Lombardi, and Lou Pinnella. Using those philosophies, Matt took the cards he was dealt and molded them into the team he knew he could win with. In the first season under Coach Skavnak, the Lakers experienced unexpected early success The Lakers finished a surprising 4th in their first season, and 3rd in their second season while being nationally ranked in the top 20 for most of the season. In 2000, Matt was voted Coach of the Year of the Midwest Division. He also won that award in 2002, in addition to GVSU's first division championship.

Matt's biggest goal during this tenure at GVSU was to win a Division title. "I want to jump in the pool afterwards, I've never won anything before," lamented Matt before the Lakers' first championship in 2001. Beating Notre Dame for the 3rd time in the year, the Lakers had won their first Great Lakes Division title and qualified for the CWPA Championship tournament in California. In three years, Matt had taken a team that was not capable of competing at the collegiate level to competition on its highest stage. At Nationals, the Lakers finished 10th beating Army and heavily favored Florida, the Lakers best and highest ranked opponent at the time.

Throughout Matt's career as GVSU's head coach Matt maintained a close relationship with his players. He was not tough on his players in the pool, and friends with them once he put away the whistle. He worked his players hard because he wanted them to own the team they were building together. "The immediate success of this team is because Skav would not let us settle for being average," said Jeff Donehoo (Captain 1999 - 2001). "Matt has set the standard as far as expectations for all future Grand Valley teams. His fingerprints are on the future of this program and its success."