In the first CWPA poll of 2003, Pepperdine was ranked fifth, despite finishing third in the final poll of 2002. The Waves picked up 82 total points, behind UCLA who earned four more points (86 points). Top ranked and defending national champion Stanford finished first (97 points) followed by second-ranked USC (93 points) and California rounded out the top five at the third spot (92 points).

"We never pay attention to polls, but I think it's fair to say we expected to be higher," said Terry Schroeder, who is beginning his 18th season as head coach. "We play No. 4 UCLA this weekend in our first match and hopefully we'll prove right away that Pepperdine deserves to be higher."

The Waves will open the season by hosting two matches in Malibu this weekend. They will challenge No. 4 UCLA at noon on Saturday followed by Claremont McKenna at 3 p.m., respectively.

Next week, the Waves will travel to the SoCal Tournament in Irvine, Calif., Sept. 20-21.

Collegiate Coaches Water Polo Poll
2003 Men's Collegiate Top 20 Poll

1 Stanford University
2 University of Southern California
3 University of California, Berkeley
4 University of California, Los Angeles
5 PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY
6 University of California, San Diego
7 University of California, Irvine
8 Long Beach State University
9 University of the Pacific
10 United States Naval Academy
11 University of California, Santa Barbara
12 Loyola Marymount University
13 Queens College
14 United States Air Force Academy
15 St. Francis College
16 Princeton University
17 Brigham Young University, Hawaii
18 Iona College
19 California Baptist University
20 University of Redlands