Men's Water Polo Hosts First Home Games This Week
9/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
This Week: The No. 9 Pepperdine men's water polo team opens up play at home this week with three contests in Malibu. The Waves have their home-opener on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. when No. 6 UC Santa Barbara comes to town for a non-conference matchup. The Waves then host both No. 16 Air Force (11:30 a.m.) and No. 15 Navy (2 p.m.) on Saturday. Navy and Air Force will also play eachother in the morning (9 a.m.) at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.
Follow: All of the Waves' games this week will be streamed live at WaveCasts on TheW.tv. Also follow @PeppWaterPolo on twitter for updates.
Last Week: The Waves traveled to the Kap7 NorCal Invitational last weekend, placing eighth in the early-season tournament. Pepperdine opened with a win over No. 10 UC Davis at the tournament, but fell into the consolation bracket with a loss to No. 1 UCLA. The Waves dropped games to No. 6 UCSB and No. 8 UC Irvine on the final day of the tournament.
Stat Rankings: Zack Rhodes is currently fifth in the MPSF with 11.59 saves per game. Luke Hewko is tied for seventh in the conference with 2.00 goals per game, Mark Urban is 14th (1.88 gpg) and Wesley Sherburne is 16th (1.75 gpg). Pepperdine is seventh in the conference as a team, scoring 10.50 goals per game.
Scoring Attack: Marko Madaras had a five-goal game to lead the Waves against LMU this year and Luke Hewko scored six-goals against CMS that same week. Both were season-highs for the players and are the highest scoring outputs this season for any Waves.
The Roster: The Waves return 11 players from last year's squad. Pepperdine brings two players off of red-shirt years this season as well. The Waves brought in a total of 11 new faces this offseason, seven of which have made the team's travel roster for the first weekend of play.
The Offense: Pepperdine returns its two leading scorers from last year's team in Luke Hewko and Wesley Sherburne. Hewko, who ranks 20th on the Pepperdine career scoring list with 124 goals, put up 55 goals last year and Sherburne had 54. In addition, the Waves add Marko Madaras off of a red-shirt season last year. Madaras scored 36 goals in 2013 and 28 in 2012. All but one player (Jacob Schrimpf, 41 goals) who tallied double-digit point totals last year are back for the Waves.
In Net: The Waves return Zack Rhodes in goal after a stellar freshman campaign by the Pepperdine net-minder. Rhodes posted 268 saves on the season, finishing fifth in the MPSF with 10.88 saves per game. The 6-6 keeper posted a season-high 18 saves versus UC Santa Barbara last year. Also returning is backup goalkeeper Phillipe Marco, who saw action in three regular-season games in 2014.
Waves in the Rankings: The Waves checked in at No. 9 in the most recent CWPA Rankings.
Last Year: Still in the midst of a rebuilding process, the Waves made good strides last year, picking up a pair of wins in MPSF play and finishing sixth in the conference tournament after a thrilling win over UC Irvine. The Waves were 11-15 overall and 2-6 in the MPSF. The Waves were seventh in the regular-season conference standings last year.
The Schroeder File: Water polo icon Terry Schroeder returned in 2013 for his second tour of duty as the Pepperdine men's water polo head coach. In his first stint with Pepperdine (1986-2005) he amassed 340 wins and a national championship in 1997. The head coach for USA Water Polo at the last two Olympics, Schroeder has been inducted into the Capital One Academic All-America Hall of Fame (2013), International Swimming Hall of Fame (2005), U.S. Water Polo Hall of Fame (1998) and the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame (1985). He has a career record of 360-248 and is the winningest coach in program history.
The Moses File: Two-time U.S. Olympian (2008, 2012) and former Pepperdine All-American Merrill Moses returns for the 2015 season as an assistant. A 2013 inductee into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame, Moses led the United States to a gold medal at the 2007, 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games. Moses also led the Waves to the 1997 national championship where they captured their first title.
About Pepperdine: Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I championships in five different men's sports — one of just 17 schools to have accomplished this feat — and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a "major" conference. The Waves have won a total of 25 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, three times (most recently in 2011-12). Located in scenic Malibu, Calif., the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation's most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks #52 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
