Water Polo Travels to NorCal Tournament
9/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
UPCOMING - The No. 7 Pepperdine men's water polo team (2-2) travels to Northern California this weekend for the 2009 NorCal Tournament.
THE 2009 NORCAL TOURNAMENT - The Waves finished seventh at the 2008 NorCal Tournament. This year's tournament will be hosted by Stanford at The Avery Aquatic Center.
GAME #5 PEPPERDINE vs. PACIFIC (Saturday, Sept. 19 @ 9:20 a.m.) at
The Avery Aquatic Center, Palo ALto, Calif. - The No. 7 Waves meet the No. 10 Tigers in the opening match of the NorCal Tournament.
Pacific (9-1) is coming off a 4-1 weekend at the Inland Empire Tournament. The Tigers defeated Occidental, Chapman, Redlands and La Verne before falling to No. 14 Concordia in the championship game. Tom Konic scored 12 goals in five games for Pacific.
James Graham is the head coach for Pacific men's water polo team.
GAME #6, #7 and #8 TBA
THE TRITON INVITATIONAL - The Waves (2-2) finished fourth at the Triton Invitational (Sept. 5-6) after a disappointing second day.
The Waves started out with two wins on the first day of the tournament. Pepperdine easily blew by Cal Lutheran 16-3, and narrowly defeated UC San Diego 12-10.
Day two proved to be more of a challenge. UC Santa Barbara squeaked by the Waves 8-7, in the morning game and Loyola outshot the team 9-5 in the after noon game.
PEPPERDINE IN THE POLLS - The Waves are No. 7 in the national rankings this week, according to the latest NCAA Div. I polls.
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 be a contender for a starting position. 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.
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 goalie for the Waves.
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. JUNIOR - Andrew Milcovich will represent the junior class all on his own this year. Milcovich is a returning starter and a 2008 MPSF All-Academic team selection.
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.
