Saturday, November 12
Malibu, Calif.
12:00 p.m. PT
Pepperdine University
vs
UC Santa Barbara
Austin Smit
Photo by: Charlie Blake
Water Polo Hosts Senior Day vs. UCSB on Saturday
11/10/2022 10:54:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
MALIBU, California — The #11 Pepperdine men's water polo team closes out the regular season at home on Saturday against #8 UC Santa Barbara. Seven seniors — Zach Arthur, Dennis Blyashov, Nicholas Fichman, Curtis Jarvis, Xavier Marco, Austin Smit and Spencer Tybur — will be honored pregame. The Waves are locked into the #5 seed for the upcoming Golden Coast Conference Tournament.
GAME #26 — Saturday (Nov. 12) at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool in Malibu, Calif.: #11 Pepperdine (12-13, 1-3) vs. #8 UC Santa Barbara (13-11, 3-1) at 12 p.m.
WATCH/ONLINE — Saturday's game will be streamed on the WCC Network. Links to broadcasts and/or live stats can be found at PepperdineWaves.com.
OPPONENT — Pepperdine is 62-57 all-time against UCSB. The Gauchos won the first two meetings this season, a non-conference matchup in Santa Barbara (12-8) and a pairing at the MPSF Invitational (11-10).
LAST WEEK — #11 UC Irvine scored the game's first three goals and the Waves never caught up in a 12-10 loss on Saturday in Irvine. UCI's lead was never bigger than three, and the Waves were within one goal several times, the last one coming at 9-8 with two minutes left in the third period. Travis Reynolds tied his career high with three goals and Curtis Jarvis had two goals and two assists.
AWARDS — Dennis Blyashov earned the program's second consecutive GCC Player of the Week honor on October 13 after a three-goal, three-assist effort in the 13-10 comeback win over #15 San Jose State ... Adam Csapo received the program's first GCC Player of the Week award of the season on October 6 after a 12-goal, six-assist output over five games, which included a 4-0 record at the Gary Troyer Tournament and a close home loss to #2 UCLA.
SEASON NOTABLES — Dennis Blyashov leads the GCC in points (82) and is third in assists (35) and sixth in goals (47) ... Curtis Jarvis leads the GCC in assists (41) and is tied for fourth in points (75) ... Adam Csapo is seventh in points (68) and tied for eighth in goals (44) ... Sandor Gal is fourth in assists (33) ... Nico Tierney is fifth in assists (26) and ninth in points (63) ... Anthony D'Ambra is tied for fifth in assists (26) ... Pepperdine's 34 goals against Whittier in the season opener was a school record, beating the previous high of 31 set against Occidental in the 1997 national championship season ... The Waves have won three games this season when they've been trailing entering the fourth quarter, and have won four times when they've been behind at halftime.
ROSTER NUMBERS — The Waves' 27-man roster breakdown is one graduate student, seven seniors, six juniors, five sophomores, two redshirt freshmen and six true freshmen. Sixteen of the 26 letterwinners from the spring season are back this fall, and they account for 58.0% of last year's goal-scoring (200/345). The top three goal-scorers from last year are gone, but the other nine who finished in double-figures have returned (led by 35 goals apiece from Nicholas Fichman and Nico Tierney). Pepperdine also got back 2020 All-American Curtis Jarvis, who sat out last year, and added Harvard grad transfer Dennis Blyashov, a two-time All-American.
GCC TO WCC — This will be the seventh and final year for the Golden Coast Conference, as the West Coast Conference and Big West Conference will both begin play in 2023. Pepperdine and Pacific will move to the WCC, where most of their other athletic programs already reside, and they'll be joined by Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara of the WWPA, as well as affiliate members Air Force, California Baptist and San Jose State.
POLL — The GCC preseason poll, a vote of the league's coaches, went as follows: Pacific, Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara, San Jose State, Pepperdine and UC Irvine.
LAST SEASON — Pepperdine finished 14-13 in the fall of 2021 and tied for fifth place in the GCC. The highlight of the season was a 16-14 home victory over eventual national champion California. Balazs Kosa became just the fourth four-time All-American in program history, making the ACWPC second team. Kosa made the All-GCC first team, while Sean Ferrari, Nicholas Fichman and Nico Tierney were honorable mention.
WATER POLO HISTORY — Pepperdine won the NCAA title in 1997, which was the last time a school other than California, Stanford, UCLA or USC won the championship. The Waves' exceptional water polo history also includes 12 conference titles, a top-10 ranking in 45 of the last 46 years, and a top-five finish 21 times. Pepperdine has had 59 players earn All-American honors a total of 107 times. Three Waves — Mike Grier (1984), Geoffrey Clark (1991) and Alan Herrmann (1997) — were named the national player of the year. Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool hosted the 1984 Olympic water polo competition and the 2000 NCAA Championships.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY — 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 20 schools to have accomplished this feat — and 10 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 26 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 2021-22). Located in scenic Malibu, California, 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 #55 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
Â
GAME #26 — Saturday (Nov. 12) at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool in Malibu, Calif.: #11 Pepperdine (12-13, 1-3) vs. #8 UC Santa Barbara (13-11, 3-1) at 12 p.m.
WATCH/ONLINE — Saturday's game will be streamed on the WCC Network. Links to broadcasts and/or live stats can be found at PepperdineWaves.com.
OPPONENT — Pepperdine is 62-57 all-time against UCSB. The Gauchos won the first two meetings this season, a non-conference matchup in Santa Barbara (12-8) and a pairing at the MPSF Invitational (11-10).
LAST WEEK — #11 UC Irvine scored the game's first three goals and the Waves never caught up in a 12-10 loss on Saturday in Irvine. UCI's lead was never bigger than three, and the Waves were within one goal several times, the last one coming at 9-8 with two minutes left in the third period. Travis Reynolds tied his career high with three goals and Curtis Jarvis had two goals and two assists.
AWARDS — Dennis Blyashov earned the program's second consecutive GCC Player of the Week honor on October 13 after a three-goal, three-assist effort in the 13-10 comeback win over #15 San Jose State ... Adam Csapo received the program's first GCC Player of the Week award of the season on October 6 after a 12-goal, six-assist output over five games, which included a 4-0 record at the Gary Troyer Tournament and a close home loss to #2 UCLA.
SEASON NOTABLES — Dennis Blyashov leads the GCC in points (82) and is third in assists (35) and sixth in goals (47) ... Curtis Jarvis leads the GCC in assists (41) and is tied for fourth in points (75) ... Adam Csapo is seventh in points (68) and tied for eighth in goals (44) ... Sandor Gal is fourth in assists (33) ... Nico Tierney is fifth in assists (26) and ninth in points (63) ... Anthony D'Ambra is tied for fifth in assists (26) ... Pepperdine's 34 goals against Whittier in the season opener was a school record, beating the previous high of 31 set against Occidental in the 1997 national championship season ... The Waves have won three games this season when they've been trailing entering the fourth quarter, and have won four times when they've been behind at halftime.
ROSTER NUMBERS — The Waves' 27-man roster breakdown is one graduate student, seven seniors, six juniors, five sophomores, two redshirt freshmen and six true freshmen. Sixteen of the 26 letterwinners from the spring season are back this fall, and they account for 58.0% of last year's goal-scoring (200/345). The top three goal-scorers from last year are gone, but the other nine who finished in double-figures have returned (led by 35 goals apiece from Nicholas Fichman and Nico Tierney). Pepperdine also got back 2020 All-American Curtis Jarvis, who sat out last year, and added Harvard grad transfer Dennis Blyashov, a two-time All-American.
GCC TO WCC — This will be the seventh and final year for the Golden Coast Conference, as the West Coast Conference and Big West Conference will both begin play in 2023. Pepperdine and Pacific will move to the WCC, where most of their other athletic programs already reside, and they'll be joined by Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara of the WWPA, as well as affiliate members Air Force, California Baptist and San Jose State.
POLL — The GCC preseason poll, a vote of the league's coaches, went as follows: Pacific, Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara, San Jose State, Pepperdine and UC Irvine.
LAST SEASON — Pepperdine finished 14-13 in the fall of 2021 and tied for fifth place in the GCC. The highlight of the season was a 16-14 home victory over eventual national champion California. Balazs Kosa became just the fourth four-time All-American in program history, making the ACWPC second team. Kosa made the All-GCC first team, while Sean Ferrari, Nicholas Fichman and Nico Tierney were honorable mention.
WATER POLO HISTORY — Pepperdine won the NCAA title in 1997, which was the last time a school other than California, Stanford, UCLA or USC won the championship. The Waves' exceptional water polo history also includes 12 conference titles, a top-10 ranking in 45 of the last 46 years, and a top-five finish 21 times. Pepperdine has had 59 players earn All-American honors a total of 107 times. Three Waves — Mike Grier (1984), Geoffrey Clark (1991) and Alan Herrmann (1997) — were named the national player of the year. Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool hosted the 1984 Olympic water polo competition and the 2000 NCAA Championships.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY — 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 20 schools to have accomplished this feat — and 10 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 26 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 2021-22). Located in scenic Malibu, California, 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 #55 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
Â
Players Mentioned
UT
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
C
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
C
/ Men's Water Polo
C
/ Men's Water Polo
CD
/ Men's Water Polo
GK
/ Men's Water Polo
