MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine men's water polo team was picked to finish second in the inaugural West Coast Conference preseason poll, as announced Tuesday. Additionally, Nico Tierney and Adam Csapo were named to the WCC preseason team.
 
This is the first year that water polo is sponsored by the WCC. Pepperdine was previously part of the Gold Coast Conference, but will play in the WCC this season. The Waves were picked second behind first-place Pacific, plus Pepperdine received three of the seven first-place votes.
 
Tierney (Sierra Madre, Calif./Harvard-Westlake HS), a senior center defender, has been a key player for the Waves in his first three seasons at Pepperdine. He's tallied 99 goals and 66 assists in 61 games in his time with the Waves. He posted 40 goals and 28 assists last year and had a season high four goals versus Pomona-Pitzer. In an impressive junior season, Tierney was named to the Second-Team GCC All-Conference Team.
 
Csapo (Budapest, Hungary/BME International Secondary School), a sophomore attacker, had an impressive debut season for the Waves in 2022. He scored 52 goals and tallied 25 assists in his first year on the team. Csapo had a career high seven goals against UC San Diego. He was named to the Second-Team GCC All-Conference Team and the GCC All-Freshmen Team. Csapo also earned GCC Player of the Week twice.
 
The Waves will head to the east coast to open their season at the Bruno Classic hosted by Brown and Harvard this weekend.