Waves Head to MPSF Invite Amongst Other Top Ranked Teams

MALIBU, Calif. — The #4 Pepperdine men's water polo team heads to UCLA and USC with four games on the docket at the MPSF Invite this weekend. Pepperdine carries a four-game win streak into a highly competitive MPSF Invite, which features the top eight of the top ten ranked teams in the nation.

GAME #11 — #4 Pepperdine (9-1) vs. #9 UC San Diego (6-4) | Friday, Sept. 22 | 3 p.m. | Spieker Aquatics Center | Los Angeles, Calif.

NEXT — The Waves will face either #2 UCLA or Occidental on Saturday, September 23. A win makes the second-round matchup at 11 a.m. at Uytengsu Aquatics Center, while a loss puts it at 9:30 a.m. at Spieker Aquatics Center. Play will continue with an additional game Saturday afternoon and one more contest on Sunday, September 24.

WATCH/ONLINE — All games will be broadcasted on Overnght (subscription required). Links to broadcasts and/or live stats can be found at PepperdineWaves.com.

OPPONENTS — Pepperdine is 51-9-1 all-time against UC San Diego, having won the last matchup 12-11 in 2022. The Waves are 31-81-1 all-time against UCLA, and are a perfect 13-0 all-time against Occidental.

LAST WEEK — The #4 Pepperdine men's water polo beat Westcliff 27-10 Thursday morning where 14 different players found the back of the net. The Waves then gutted out a 13-8 win over their regional rival #11 UC Santa Barbara in the evening where Curtis Jarvis led the way with three goals and two assists. The Waves also out-shot the Gauchos .500 to .276.

Then on Sunday, Pepperdine beat Cal Maritime 30-3 in the morning, where they scored 30 goals for the third time in program history. Conor Brough led the way against the Keelhaulers with a career-high seven goals and five assists. In the evening, the Waves competed in a hard-fought, 17-10 win over Cal State Fullerton, where Christian Hosea had a game-high four goals and Nico Tierney posted a hat trick along with two assists.

AWARDS — 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. 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.

SEASON NOTABLES — Antonio Knez leads the WCC in saves (102) as well as save percentage (.590), and is third in steals (17). Adam Csapo is second in the WCC in goals (23) and points (35). Ryan Brosnan leads the WCC in PPG (3.8) and is second in the WCC in assists (18).

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.

SCHEDULE — The Waves will have five home games in October, including three of the six WCC contests against Loyola Marymount, Air Force and Pacific.

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.

Waves Head to MPSF Invite Amongst Other Top Ranked Teams

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Players Mentioned

Dennis Blyashov

Ryan Brosnan

Conor Brough

Adam Csapo

Sandor Gal

Christian Hosea

Curtis Jarvis

Antonio Knez

Nico Tierney

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