MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine men's water polo team continues to West Coast Conference play this weekend as they hit the road to take on #14 San Jose State on Saturday and #17 Santa Clara on Sunday.
 
GAME #27 — #5 Pepperdine (22-4) at #14 San Jose State (8-8) | Saturday, Nov. 4 | 1 p.m. | Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center | San Jose, Calif.
 
GAME #28 — #5 Pepperdine at #17 Santa Clara (11-11), faces Loyola Marymount on Friday | Sunday, Nov. 5 | 12 p.m. | Sullivan Aquatic Center | Santa Clara, Calif.
 
WATCH/ONLINE — If available, links to broadcasts and/or live stats can be found at PepperdineWaves.com.
 
OPPONENTS — Pepperdine is 22-7 all-time against San Jose State, having won the last matchup 13-10 in 2022. The Waves are 11-2 all-time against Santa Clara, including a 16-7 win in their last contest against the Broncos in 2018.
 
LAST WEEK — The #4 Pepperdine men's water polo team defeated #17 California Baptist at Lancer Aquatics Center on Saturday. After trailing 4-2 early in the first quarter, the Waves scored three straight goals to take a 5-4 lead into the second quarter. Pepperdine pulled away in the third quarter and won the contest 16-11.
 
Then on Sunday, Pepperdine collected two wins at home. In the first game, the Waves jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead. The Waves used this momentum and never looked back as they defeated Air Force 16-11 in a West Coast Conference matchup at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. In the afternoon against Cal Lutheran, Pepperdine blanked the Kingsmen in the first quarter and took a 7-0 lead into the second period. The Waves cruised to a 17-6 victory as they won their eighth-straight game.
 
AWARDS — Pepperdine has won three WCC Player of the Week awards. 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.
 
SEASON NOTABLES — Antonio Knez leads the WCC in saves (243), save percentage (.536) and goals-against average (9.33). Knez is also tied for third in steals in the WCC (32). Matty Walsh is tied for second in the WCC in field blocks (11).  
 
ROSTER NUMBERS — The Waves' 28-man roster breakdown is four graduate students, five seniors, four 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.
 
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.