MALIBU, California — The #9 Pepperdine men's water polo team has a busy week ahead, with four official games and two exhibitions in a four-day stretch. The schedule includes a trip to #8 UC Santa Barbara and the home opener against PCH Cup rival and #15 Loyola Marymount, followed by #18 Brown.

GAME #7 — Thursday (Sept. 15) at the Campus Pool in Santa Barbara, Calif.: #9 Pepperdine (2-4) vs. Westcliff (6-3) at 2:30 p.m.

GAME #8 — Thursday (Sept. 15) at the Campus Pool in Santa Barbara, Calif.: #9 Pepperdine at #8 UC Santa Barbara (3-3, hosts Westcliff on Thursday) at 5 p.m.

GAME #9 — Saturday (Sept. 17) at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool in Malibu, Calif.: #9 Pepperdine vs. #15 Loyola Marymount (4-0, at Fresno Pacific on Thursday) at 11 a.m.

GAME #10 — Sunday (Sept. 18) at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool in Malibu, Calif.: #9 Pepperdine vs. #18 Brown (5-3, vs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Whittier on Saturday) at 10 a.m.

EXHIBITIONS — Both Saturday and Sunday will be doubleheaders. The Waves will host West Valley College at 3 p.m. on Saturday and Golden West College at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Admission will be free for the exhibitions.

TICKETS — Tickets to all Pepperdine home men's water polo games will be available via e-ticket ONLY. Patrons must purchase tickets to any event prior to arrival. Pepperdine faculty, staff and students must show Pepperdine ID card for entry — no ticket purchase is required. To purchase e-tickets and read the spectator guidelines, visit: https://gowav.es/WavesTix. Due to campus construction, nearby parking may be limited and guests are advised to arrive early. There is also limited bleacher seating and fans may choose to bring chairs or blankets to sit on the hillside above the pool.

PROMOTIONS — Fifty Chick-fil-A sandwiches will be handed out to Pepperdine students following Saturday's LMU game.

WATCH/ONLINE — Saturday's LMU game and Sunday's Brown contest will be streamed on the WCC Network. Links to broadcasts and/or live stats can be found at PepperdineWaves.com.

OPPONENTS — Pepperdine faced Westcliff last season for the first time and posted a 24-4 win at home ... Pepperdine is 62-55 all-time against UCSB. The Gauchos won both meetings last season ... Pepperdine is 46-8 all-time against LMU and has won 11 straight since a home loss in 2014 ... Pepperdine is 7-2 all-time against Brown. The schools last met in 2018 in Rhode Island, a 12-11 overtime win for the Bears.

PCH CUP — An annual all-sport competition between two local rivals that are separated by just 19.1 miles of scenic coastline, the PCH Cup is in its 14th season of existence. Pepperdine has won 11 of the 13 years that this competition has been held.

LAST WEEK — The Waves went to Northern California to challenge two of the nation's top teams, and came back with a 15-8 loss to #4 Stanford and 17-12 defeat at #1 California. Pepperdine led the Golden Bears late in the third period before Cal pulled away. Nico Tierney scored a team-high five goals over the two games, while Dennis Blyashov had six assists.

SEASON NOTABLES — All four of the Waves' losses have come to teams ranked in the top seven at the time of the game ... 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.

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.

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 #55 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.