Aug. 19, 2010
Preseason Top-20 Poll
MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine water polo team received a No. 8 ranking in the Men's Varsity Top 20 preseason poll released Wednesday by the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA).
Voted on by a panel of coaches and administrators from around the country, the Waves accumulated 68 points as they return 17 players from last year's squad that finished 13-12 with a No. 6 national ranking. This year's squad also features six first-year players and junior college transfers Nathan Castillo (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor HS), Rex Learmouth, Aaron Turk (Eugene, Ore./South Eugene HS) and Brandon Picone (Morgan Hill, Calif./Valley Christian HS).
Senior team captain Andrew Milcovich (Walnut Creek, Calif./De La Salle HS) is Pepperdine's top returning scorer with 17 goals. Also coming back are sophomores Danny White (Oxnard, Calif./Rio Mesa HS) and James Perry (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte HS) who recently earned runner-up honors at the UANA Jr. Pan American Championships with the United States 91U "A" Team.
Defensively, sophomore Thomas O'Connell (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) led all Pepperdine goalkeepers in 2009 with 117 saves and 16 games played.
California garnered 95 points to rate as the preseason favorite, edging out UCLA by a single point (95-to-94). Stanford and defending champion USC received the remaining first-place votes and will begin the year ranked third and fourth, respectively.
Overall, the top 13 teams in the nation are all located in California as UC Irvine, Loyola Marymount University, UC Santa Barbara, Pepperdine, Long Beach State and Pacific rounded out the Top 10. UC San Diego, Concordia and Santa Clara University ranked No. 11-13.
Pepperdine will host nine regular-season home matches in 2010, including a four-team invitational on Sept. 5 that features Golden West, UCSB and Claremont. On Sept. 11, the Waves will face rival Loyola Marymount at noon.
