Pepperdine to Compete in the Inaugural WCC Tournament

MALIBU, Calif. — The #5 Pepperdine men's water polo team will compete in the inaugural West Coast Conference Tournament in Malibu, Calif. at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool this weekend. The top-seeded Waves look to win the first ever WCC men's water polo tournament. The tournament is held in a single elimination format.

By winning the regular season West Coast Conference Championship and earning the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, Pepperdine will get a bye and head straight into the semifinals on Saturday afternoon. The Waves will face off against the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between fourth-seeded and 16th-ranked California Baptist or fifth-seeded and 19th-ranked Santa Clara.

GAME #31 — #5 Pepperdine (25-5) vs. #16 California Baptist or #19 Santa Clara | Saturday, Nov. 18 | 1 p.m. | Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool | Malibu, Calif. The winner of this game advances to the WCC Final on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 1 p.m.

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: Pepperdinewaves.com/tickets.

Due to campus construction, nearby parking may be limited and guests are advised to arrive early.

SEATING — Bleacher seating at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool is limited and on a first-come, first-serve basis. Fans are encouraged to bring their own chairs and/or blankets to sit on the hillside next to the bleachers.

WATCH/ONLINE — All games this weekend will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required). Links to any Pepperdine broadcasts and/or live stats can be found at PepperdineWaves.com.

OPPONENTS — Pepperdine is a perfect 11-0 all-time against California Baptist, including a 16-11 win over the Lancers earlier this year. The Waves are 12-3 all-time against Santa Clara, with their last win coming earlier this season.

LAST WEEK — This past weekend, the Pepperdine water polo team collected two wins at home to close out the regular season. The Waves cruised to an 18-11 victory over #17 Pacific on Friday afternoon at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. With the win, Pepperdine clinched a share of the West Coast Conference regular season title and the No. 1 overall seed in the inaugural WCC tournament.

Then on Saturday, Pepperdine completed a fourth quarter comeback against #5 UC Irvine as the Waves defeated the Anteaters 13-11 at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.

ROSTER NUMBERS — The Waves' 27-man roster breakdown is four graduate students, five seniors, three juniors, eight sophomores and seven freshmen. Pepperdine returns 19 players from last year's roster, including 2022 All-American honorable mention Adam Csapo. The Waves also add 10 newcomers, including an All-American graduate transfer in Antonio Knez and a sharp-shooting graduate transfer in Ryan Brosnan.

AWARDS — In the inaugural season of water polo in the West Coast Conference, the Waves swept the conference's postseason top honors. Antonio Knez earned WCC Player of the Year, Ryan Brosnan garnered the Newcomer of the Year award and head coach Terry Schroeder was named the Coach of the Year.

Four Pepperdine water polo players earned All-WCC awards, with Knez and Brosnan having garnered All-WCC first team honors, and Adam Csapo and Nico Tierney having received second team nods.

Pepperdine has won four WCC Player of the Week awards. Curtis Jarvis received his second WCC Player of the Week on Nov. 14 after tallying three goals and nine assists in two games.

Nico Tierney earned the WCC Player of the Week award on Sept. 26 after posting a total of ten goals and seven assists in four games all against top-10 teams at the MPSF Invite. He also posted a .625 shooting percentage.

Curtis Jarvis earned the program's second WCC Player of the Week of the season on Sept. 19 after having a total of seven goals with an efficient shooting percentage of .875. He also tacked on seven assists for a total of 14 points over four games.

Antonio Knez received the program's first WCC Player of the Week award of the season on Sept. 12 after 35 saves and posting a .686 save percentage over two games.

WCC — This will be the first year in the West Coast Conference for the Waves. Pepperdine and Pacific are moving into the WCC, where most of their other athletic programs already reside, and they'll be joined by Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara of the Western Water Polo Association, as well as affiliate members Air Force, California Baptist and San Jose State. Pepperdine will host the inaugural WCC Men's Water Polo Conference Tournament at the Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.

POLL —The WCC preseason poll, as decided by the league's coaches, went as follows: Pacific, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, San Jose State, Santa Clara, California Baptist and Air Force.

LAST SEASON — Pepperdine finished 13-14 in the fall of 2022 and tied for fourth place in the Gold Coast Conference. The highlight of the season was upsetting #8 UC Santa Barbara 13-12 on Senior Day, overcoming a four-goal third-quarter deficit. The Waves also trailed the Gauchos by two with less than two minutes left to play. Pepperdine's only lead of the game came in the final 11 seconds. Two Waves earned All-American honors, Dennis Blyashov garnered a spot on the third team, while Adam Csapo picked up an honorable mention nod. Blyashov made the All-GCC first team, Csapo earned All-GCC second team and Nico Tierney was an honorable mention. Csapo and Sandor Gal made the GCC All-Freshman team.

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 46 of the last 47 years and a top-five finish 21 times. Pepperdine has had 61 players earn All-American honors a total of 109 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, five times (most recently in back-to-back years during the 2022-23 and 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 #76 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.

Pepperdine to Compete in the Inaugural WCC Tournament

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Players Mentioned

Dennis Blyashov

Ryan Brosnan

Adam Csapo

Sandor Gal

Curtis Jarvis

Antonio Knez

Nico Tierney

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