MALIBU, California — The #10 Pepperdine men's water polo team opens up the 2022 season with four games at UC San Diego's Triton Invitational this weekend.
GAME #1 — Saturday (Sept. 3) at Triton Pool in La Jolla, Calif.: #10 Pepperdine (0-0) vs. Whittier (0-0) at 12:15 p.m.
NEXT — The Waves will face either #13 UC San Diego or La Verne later Saturday. A win makes the second-round matchup at 5:30 p.m. at Triton Pool, while a loss puts it at 4:20 p.m. at Canyonview Pool. Play will continue with two more games on Sunday.
WATCH/ONLINE — If available, links to any broadcasts and/or live stats can be found at PepperdineWaves.com.
OPPONENTS — Pepperdine is 4-0 all-time against Whittier. The two schools last met in 2017 ... Pepperdine is 49-9-1 all-time against UC San Diego. The Tritons earned a 17-12 win at this event last year ... Pepperdine is 3-0 all-time against La Verne, with the last meeting in 2016.
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 the 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 gets back 2020 All-American
Curtis Jarvis, who sat out last year, and adds Harvard grad transfer
Dennis Blyashov, a two-time All-American.
SCHEDULE — The Waves will have eight home games in September and October. Three of the five GCC home games will be at home. In non-conference play, Pepperdine will get UCLA and USC at home, and will visit defending NCAA champion California and Stanford.
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 #49 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
