UPCOMING - The No. 5 Waves (12-10, 4-4) travel to USC this week for the MPSF Men's Water Polo Championships.

Game #23: PEPPERDINE vs. UCLA (Friday,  Nov. 27, @ 3 p.m. at The McDonald's Swim Stadium, Los Angeles, Calif. 

The No. 4 Bruins (19-6, 5-3) will play the Waves in a MPSF Tournament  first-round contest on Friday. During the regular season UCLA and Pepperdine met once with the Bruins winning 9-6.

MPSF TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

McDonald's Swim Stadium

Host: University of Southern California

Friday, November 27

Game 1: # 1 USC vs. # 8 Pacific 10 a.m.

Game 2: # 2 Stanford vs. # 7 UC Santa Barbara 11:30 a.m.

Game 3: # 3 California vs. # 6 UC Irvine 1:30 p.m.

Game 4: # 4 UCLA vs. # 5 Pepperdine 3 p.m.

Saturday, November 28

Game 5: Losers Games 1 & 4 9:30 a.m.

Game 6: Losers Games 2 & 3 11 a.m.

Game 7: Winners Games 1 & 4 (Semifinal) 1 p.m.

Game 8: Winners Games 2 & 3 (Semifinal) 2:30 p.m.

Sunday, November 29

Game 9: Losers Games 5 & 6 (7TH Place) 10 a.m.

Game 10: Winners Games 5 & 6 (5TH Place) 11:30 a.m.

Game 11: Losers Games 7 & 8 (3RD Place) 1:30 p.m.

Game 12: Winners Games 7 & 8 (Championship) 3 p.m.

RECAP UC SANTA BARBARA -  Eight Pepperdine men's water polo seniors celebrated their last home game with a 9-8 win over No. 9 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday afternoon at The Raleigh-Runnels Memorial Pool.

The Gaucho's (12-14, 1-7) Milos Golic was the game high-scorer with four goals. JP MacDonell (Redwood, Calif./Bellarmine Prep.) and Brett Auer (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Beach HS) each had three goals for the Waves (12-10, 4-4). UCSB's Fraser Bunn had eight saves in the goal, while Tommy O'Connell (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) notched seven saves.

A CHANCE FOR CHILDREN  -  Photo galleries are now up on the web page with pictures of last weekend's water polo clinic for A Chance for Children.

JP MACDONELL NAMED MPSF CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Senior JP MacDonell was named Co-Player of the week by the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation on Monday afternoon.

MacDonell (Rewood City, Calif./Bellarmine Prep) scored a game and season-high five goals sin a key MPSF win at No. 7 UC Irvine Sunday (15-14, 5 OT). MacDonell also earned this award after an identical five-goal showing against the Anteaters a year ago (Nov. 9 '08).

PEPPERDINE IN THE POLLS - The Waves remained at No. 5 in the national rankings this week, according to the latest NCAA Div. I polls.

MPSF STATS: JP MacDonell is ranked No. 3 for goals scored with a 2.44 average per game. Thomas O'Connell moved up to No. 7 for goalie saves with a 6.62 average per game and No. 9 for goals against with a 7.65 average per game. The Waves are ranked No. 8 for team goals at 7.61 per game and No. 8 for team defense with 8.85 per game.

COACH KOCUR  - Coach Jack Kocur is in his fourth year as head coach. Kocur took over the position from Terry Schroeder when he took a leave of absence to serve as the assistant coach for the U.S. National Team in 2006. Kocur was a member of the Waves 1997 national championship team, earning first All-American honors as a senior. Kocur spent four seasons as an assistant under Schroeder.

COACH O'BRIEN  - Coach Gary O'Brien begins his second season as assistant coach. O'Brien played for UCLA and then went on to play semi-professionally in Australia. He has eight years of coaching experience at the high school, community college, university and club level.

COACH MATTHIES -  Coach Marty Matthies joins the Waves staff as the volunteer coach this season. Matthies was a member of the California 2006 NCAA championship team. He played for the USA Water Polo National Senior Team in 2005. Matthies is the son of Pepperdine's Head Women's Volleyball Coach Nina Matthies.

PEPPERDINE HISTORY  - In its 34 seasons, the Pepperdine water polo program has posted an overall record of 648-382-8, including a 163-108 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation record. The Waves have posted 15 20+ winning seasons and advanced to the NCAA Championships 12 times, claiming the program's lone national title in 1997.

SUPER SENIOR CLASS - The senior class is comprised of two returning starters and four returning players who were an integral part of the 2008 team. JP MacDonell and Clayton Snyder lead the team as the 2009 co-captain. MacDonell was selected as a 2008 All-American third team and All MPSF first team. He was a member of the 2009 USA Water Polo University Team. Snyder enters his second season as a co-captain. He was named to the 2008 All-MPSF third team and the All-MPSF academic team.

Taylor Watson had a strong 2008 season and will return as a starter. Brett Auer came back at the end of the season after recovering from an injury. He led the Waves with three goals in an upset victory against Stanford at the 2008 MPSF semi-finals. Christian Cardey, Preston Lujan, Sam Busby and Jacob Young round out the senior class. The group has been together all four years with the exception of Young who transferred as a junior in 2008. All four saw significant playing time in the 2008 season and are expected to be key on defense and counter attacks.

REDSHIRTS RETURN - Four redshirts are anxious to get back in the pool this season. Travis Gough, Matt Brown, Jonathan Flowers and Milos Purkovic should all see some action this year. Gough was one of the top freshman scorers in 2007. He scored five goals in a game twice (Whittier and Cal Lutheran). Brown, Flowers and Purkovic will make their debut as Waves this season.

 JUNIORS - Andrew Milcovich and Bryce Mclain will represent the junior class this year. Milcovich is a returning starter and a 2008 MPSF All-Academic team selection. McLain is expected to be the starting goal keeper for the Waves.

AMAZING FRESHMAN CLASS - Fourteen freshmen make the 2009 class one of the largest in Pepperdine history.

Among the group are two USA Water Polo Junior National Team members: Spencer Hamby and James Perry. Fellow Wave Mathew Carter played for South Africa's Junior National Team.

Twelve remaining freshmen fill every position on the roster and look to provide the Waves with depth this season.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE - Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won a total of nine NCAA championships in five different men's sports - one of just 14 schools to have accomplished this feat. Of the 14, Pepperdine is the only non-BCS school and has by far the smallest enrollment. The majority of Pepperdine's teams are ranked nationally year after year and compete for conference and national titles.