Kent Emden, a 6-foot-5 rising junior from Chicago, Ill., has starred at the goalie position on the men's water polo team. After seeing considerable playing time during his freshman year, Emden had a breakout sophomore season, taking home the Golden Coast Conference Player of the Year award and finishing with double-digit saves in six different matches. The Waves rolled to the GCC championship after beating San Jose State four out of five times, but were passed over for the NCAA Tournament in a year heavily upended by the pandemic.
 
We talked to Emden about his standout season, his Pepperdine journey that began in middle school, and his experiences with the U.S. Junior National Team:
 
Q: You just finished up your sophomore season. Talk us through this past year.
 
A: It's just been crazy the whole time. We were supposed to start in July, and then that got pushed back to August and pushed back, pushed back and pushed back. We had no idea what was going to happen, so when we finally did get the confirmation that we were going to play and have a season, it was amazing, of course.
 
It took a bit of time to get back in shape, since most of us hadn't been in the pool for six or seven months at that point. And it was just interesting dealing with the new protocols, the new testing, and the whole different lifestyle that we weren't really used to. We definitely played some difficult games, and it was interesting because you're playing the same teams, not very much variety, and less games than we did the previous season.
 
We were really wanting to play in the NCAA Tournament, but unfortunately, we didn't make it even though we won the GCC, which was pretty heartbreaking to be honest. Everyone on our team thought we had a pretty good shot of winning it or doing very well in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Q: Because of COVID-19 opt-outs, the GCC only had two teams in water polo last year, Pepperdine and San Jose State. Does playing the same team over and over again change how you guys play?
 
A: Absolutely. Honestly, it becomes almost a little bit hard to win every single game once you start playing a team more. We did a bunch of film on San Jose, and we studied their players and their goalie quite a bit and really focused on that team. That makes it easier and harder at the same time. Because if we face UCLA, for example, we're not as familiar with them, and it's going to be a completely different style of play for defense and offense.
 
Q: Goalie is a hugely important position in water polo, and you've seen a lot of playing time there as a freshman and a sophomore. How do you feel about being trusted with that leadership so early in your career, and how do you think you're growing into it as you become an upperclassman?
 
A: In my freshman year, I started probably about half the games, and sophomore year, I almost started every single game. And it is incredible to know that the coaches and the team trusts me with that position. We have those games where if I don't make the stop, we might not win the game, if I don't make a good pass, it's a lot of responsibility. It definitely comes with some risk and reward to it. But I love the team. I think we have a very good bond. I love the coaches. I think the more I trust the team, and the more they trust me, the more we will succeed.
 
Q: You're from Chicago, and you've spent the past couple years out here. So how does Malibu and the Pepperdine environment compare to the Windy City?
 
A: There's no snow, so that's definitely interesting. The summers are awesome being able to go to the beach all the time, trying new things like surfing, and there's a bunch of hiking opportunities around here, too. The lifestyle is amazing. The big thing in Chicago, it's gray for four or five months out of the year, and it's amazing not having that anymore. I think it definitely improves how I am emotionally and makes me happier. It's worth the trade-off of having to deal with the sun and being sunburned and putting sunscreen on all the time.
 
Q: Can you talk about the process of how you came to Pepperdine?
 
A: How I got into water polo was my parents watching the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Both (Pepperdine associate head coach) Merrill (Moses) and (Pepperdine head coach) Terry Schroeder were at that Olympics. Schroeder was the head coach of the team, and Merrill was the starting goalie. When I was 12 or 13, I did a camp with Merrill in the Midwest, and he said I should come do one of the summer camps so I'd have more time to train with them. I did that for four or five summers, and right off the bat, I just completely fell in love with the coaches and the team. They were fun and kind of everything that I didn't really have at the time. So I looked at that, and thought, "Oh my gosh, I can't imagine going anywhere else." So every single time I came to this camp, I treated it like a tryout, I was always working as hard as I could. When I was able to start talking to coaches, I was in communication with them from the start, and then committed later on with them.
 
Q: You've also been on the U.S. Youth and Junior National teams. What was that experience like?
 
A: Youth was a little different, but in junior level, I would be playing with people that I compete against in normal college, and we have to come together as a team. And so you have to put that aside and come together and become something better. And so it was pretty hard. There's a lot of training prior to tournaments that we have to do. At that level, everyone kind of knows what they're supposed to be doing. It's just a matter of knowing your teammates and being able to adapt to their kind of styles.
 
Playing internationally is amazing, because it's not every day you get to play against another team and represent the USA. You're meeting all these people from so many different backgrounds and staying in the same hotels. It's an amazing experience.
 
Q: There's another Olympic water polo tournament this summer in Tokyo. Do you have any picks for that?
 
A: I'll absolutely be watching the Olympics. It always comes down to the main competitors every single year. Hungary, Serbia, Italy and Montenegro are some phenomenal teams. I think personally, I'm probably going with Hungary. If there's a game against Hungary, I think that would be my favorite game to watch. We've definitely butted heads. We lost to them in a shootout when we were in the Youth World Championships, so definitely some history with a few of their players.
 
Q: What are your goals for this upcoming season?
 
A: The number one goal is to win an NCAA championship, hands down. And I think we're in a great position to do that. We have a bunch of incoming freshmen that are going to be a great addition to the team. We actually didn't lose any one of our starters. Coleman (Carpenter) has decided to come back and play one more season with us. That's my main goal is to win the NCAA championship, win our conference championship and continue a winning streak like that.