MALIBU, California — The #9 Pepperdine men's water polo team plays in the final edition of the Golden Coast Conference Tournament this weekend. The fifth-seeded Waves hope to become the first and only school to win the tournament three times.

GAME #27 — Friday (Nov. 18) at the UCSB Campus Pool in Santa Barbara, Calif.: fifth-seeded and ninth-ranked Pepperdine (13-13, 2-3) vs. fourth-seeded and 13th-ranked UC Irvine (14-12, 2-3) at 5 p.m.

GAME #28 — If Pepperdine wins ... Saturday (Nov. 19) at the UCSB Campus Pool in Santa Barbara, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. first-seeded and seventh-ranked Pacific (19-6, 4-1) at 5 p.m.

GAME #29 — If Pepperdine wins ... Sunday (Nov. 20) at the UCSB Campus Pool in Santa Barbara, Calif.: GCC championship match at 2 p.m.

WATCH/ONLINE — The tournament will be streamed by UC Santa Barbara. Links to broadcasts and/or live stats can be found at PepperdineWaves.com.

GCC HISTORY — Pepperdine won the inaugural GCC Tournament in 2016, then became the first school to win it twice in 2019. Long Beach State (2018, 2021) also has two victories, and Pacific (2017) is the only other program to win the crown.

ALL-GCC — Four players received postseason honors from the GCC. Dennis Blyashov made the All-GCC first team, Adam Csapo was on the second team and received GCC All-Freshman team honors, Nico Tierney received All-GCC honorable mention status for the second straight year and Sandor Gal joined Csapo on the All-Freshman team.

LAST WEEK — The Waves scored on each of their final three possessions, including the game-winner by Nico Tierney with 11 seconds left, to stun #8 UC Santa Barbara 13-12 in the regular-season finale on Sunday at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. Pepperdine trailed 7-3 in the third quarter, 9-7 after three quarters and 12-10 with three minutes left. Adam Csapo scored five goals and Tierney, Dennis Blyashov and Curtis Jarvis each scored twice.

MORE 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 is tied for second in the GCC in points (85) and is third in assists (36) and tied for sixth in goals (49) ... Curtis Jarvis leads the GCC in assists (44) and is fifth in points (80) ... Adam Csapo is tied for sixth in goals (49) and seventh in points (74) ... Sandor Gal is fourth in assists (35) ... Nico Tierney is fifth in assists (28) and eighth in points (67) ... Anthony D'Ambra is tied for ninth 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 four games this season when they've been trailing entering the fourth quarter, and have won five 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.