Sept. 29, 2010
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SoCal Tournament Bracket (PDF) 
MALIBU, Calif.- The No. 9 Pepperdine men's water polo team heads to UCLA this weekend for the 2010 SoCal Tournament, which features all nine Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) teams, in addition to five other squads from California (Concordia, LMU, Redlands, Santa Clara and UC San Diego) and two East Coast schools (Princeton, St. Francis).
Pepperdine enters the fray with a 6-5 record following last Saturday's doubleheader split vs. No. 1 USC (L, 4-13) and Fresno Pacific (W, 21-4). The Waves placed eighth two weeks ago at the NorCal Tournament at Cal, first knocking off rival LMU, 8-7, in sudden-death overtime, before falling to the then-No.1 Bears, and later UC Irvine and Pacific.
One area of concern for the Waves has been their first-quarter play, in which they've been outscored 16-4 through their last three losses to UCI, Pacific and USC. The Anteaters scored six goals vs. the Waves at NorCal, and then both the Tigers and Trojans put up a five spot against them.
But the primary solution for Pepperdine is not to try and outgun their opposition, rather it's to play better defense.
"This weekend is about having a good defensive effort in the first quarter, because that first stop will bring energy to our game," Pepperdine sophomore attacker Stephen Loomis (Moraga, Calif./Campolindo HS) said. "That momentum will shift right over to the offense, and after having a hard week of training following NorCal there are no more worries about our energy level. We're in good shape and we'll bring everything we've got."
Waves head coach Jack Kocur sees thing similarly, adding that he wants to see more teamwork between his players.
"Our focus in practice this week has been to push ourselves to selflessness and to work as a family," he said. "And if our guys can capture that mentality then we'll be placing a greater effort in each offensive and defensive - five-man and six-man - series.
"We know we're going to have to beat Long Beach during the regular season in order to get to the MPSF Tournament, so I'm thankful for this early test to see how we stack up against them."
The 2010 SoCal Tournament will utilize pools at both Spieker Aquatics Center and Sunset Canyon Recreation Center. The Waves open their schedule Saturday morning against the 49ers at 9:20 a.m. (Sunset Canyon Recreation Center), who Pepperdine beat twice last season by one goal.
Pepperdine edged LBSU, 8-7, at home and again, 12-11, in overtime to place fifth at the 2009 SoCal Tournament hosted by UCI.
"There's been some dispute over the seeding between us and Long Beach - we're the No. 8 and they're the No. 9 - so I'm excited for this chance to play them and prove that we're the better side," added Loomis. "This is a big game for us and we want that second shot at USC. I feel that we didn't play our best against them last time."
The Waves second game Saturday afternoon will either be against No. 1 USC or Redlands.
All-session ticket packages cost $35. Single-day tickets cost $20 for adults and $10 for youth. One ticket allows admission to games at either of UCLA's two pools.
Matches will begin at Sunset Canyon Recreation Center on Saturday at 8 a.m., while games at Spieker Aquatics Center will start by 8:30 a.m. Each pool will host eight games each day - four in the morning and four in the afternoon.
Information from UCLABruins.com was used in this release.
