Waves Head to NCAA Championships

Malibu, Calif. – For the first time since 1997, the #3 Pepperdine men's water polo team is back in the NCAA Championships. The Waves earned the Golden Coast Conference automatic bid after defeating Long Beach State 14-12 in the championship game of the GCC Tournament. Pepperdine drew UC Davis in the first round of NCAAs, taking on the Aggies on Thursday at 2:45 p.m.

Game #32: Thursday (Dec. 5) at 2:45 p.m. at Chris Kjeldesen Pool in Stockton, Calif.: Pepperdine (24-7, 4-1 GCC) vs. UC Davis (16-7, 7-0 WWPA).

If They Win: If the Waves defeat UC Davis, they will take on Pacific in the semifinal on Saturday at 7 p.m. The championship game is Sunday, Dec. 8 at 3 p.m.

NCAA Tournament History: This year marks the 13th time that Pepperdine has reached the NCAA Tournament. The last time was in 1997, when the Waves won the national championship, beating UC Davis 13-8 in the semifinal and USC 8-7 in overtime for the first national championship in program history.

ALL-GCC: Six Waves were named to the All-GCC teams for 2019. Chris Dilworth and Balazs Kosa were named to the first team. Marko Asic, John Claude Marco and Mate Toth were named honorable mention. Austin Smit was named to the All-Freshman team. Toth and Kosa were both named to the GCC All-Tournament team, and Sean Thomas was named MVP.

Follow: This week's NCAA Tournament will have live video via WatchStadium and live stats via the FOSH, with links posted on pepperdinewaves.com. To keep up with the team, follow Pepperdine men's water polo on Twitter (@PeppWaterPolo), Instagram (@PeppWaterPolo) and Facebook (PeppWaterPolo).

Conference Leaders: Balazs Kosa leads all Golden Coast Conference players in goals scored (86), points (128) and assists (42). Marko Asic has 57 goals, third in the GCC and 68 points, good for a tie for sixth. Curtis Jarvis is also in the top 10 in assists (33) and total points (74). Kyle McKenney is fifth in the conference with 110 saves on the year.

Notable: The Waves have two hallmark wins thus far in 2019: On Oct. 12, Pepperdine defeated #6 California 13-12 for the first time since 2008. Then one week later, the Waves defeated USC 13-12 for the first time since 2005 ... Marko Asic has been steadily climbing the all-time goal scoring ranks this year, and is currently tied fourth all-time with 239 goals, the exact same number as his father Pero. ... Chris Dilworth has 169 career goals, which puts him 16th all-time and three goals behind Adam Hewko in 15th ... Nov. 3rd's victory over Concordia gave the Waves 20 wins for the first time since 2008.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Marko Asic

Chris Dilworth

Balazs Kosa

John Claude Marco

Kyle McKenney

Austin Smit

Sean Thomas

Mate Toth

Footer