MALIBU, Calif. – The #9 Pepperdine men's water polo team used a strong third quarter to pull away defeat #15 California Baptist 17-16 at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool on Sunday afternoon.

The Waves improved to 4-0 in conference play and now sit alone at the top of the standings, with #5 Pacific right behind them at 3-0.
 
BIG WAVES

• Redshirt freshman center Bronson Birdsall (Kailua, Hawai'i) tallied two goals, one assist, one steal and one drawn exclusion.
• Sophomore utility Jon Carcarey (Santa Maria, Calif.) earned one goal and two assists.
• Junior attacker Adam Csapo (Budapest, Hungary) had a game-high four assists to go along with four goals and three steals.
• Fifth year attacker Tony D'Ambra (Rolling Hills, Calif.) notched two goals and one assist while posting a perfect 1.000 shooting percentage.
• Freshman attacker Erik Ionescu (Budapest, Hungary) found the back of the net five times while dishing out two assists and tabbing one steal.

RECAP
 
After losing to California Baptist in the WCC Tournament semifinals last season, Pepperdine came into Sunday's conference matchup looking for revenge. Both teams entered the contest 3-0 in WCC play and sat side-by-side at the top of the standings.
 
Neither team was able to gain much of an advantage in the first half as the first 16 minutes saw seven ties. However, the Waves were able to use a 6-1 run in the third quarter to create some separation and propel them to their fourth conference win of the year.
 
Continuing the trend of starting fast, Csapo scored the Waves first two goals of the game, but California Baptist responded both times to keep the game even. D'Ambra and Carcarey scored two of the games' next three goals to put the Waves up one, but the Lancers countered with back-to-back scores to take a 5-4 advantage. Ionescu then found the back of the cage to close out the quarter and send the game to the second period all square at 5.
 
Birdsall and Sandor Gal (Budapest, Hungary) capped off a three-goal run for Pepperdine as they opened the second period with two straight goals to put the Waves in front 7-5. California Baptist fought back once again, this time scoring three of the games' next four goals to tie the game for the sixth time, 8-8. The squads remained tied 9-9 at the half as they traded goals to end the period with Ionescu finding the back of the cage for a second time.
 
Pepperdine came out of the break with Max Smirnov (Petah Tikva, Israel) taking over in goal and a new look on defense. Although the Lancers took a 10-9 lead at the beginning of the second half, the Waves stifled the opposition's attack, holding California Baptist to just one goal in the remaining 7:03 of the third quarter. While shutting down the Lancers, Pepperdine continued to find success on offense as they tallied six goals in the quarter. Csapo, D'Ambra, Birdsall and Conor Brough (Dana Point, Calif.) all scored once, while Ionescu deposited two shots into the back of the cage. The Waves' strong third quarter propelled them to a 15-11 advantage with eight minutes to go.
 
The teams traded goals to open the final period, but the Lancers continued to battle as they scored the next three goals of the contest to make it a 16-15 game with 2:08 left to play. Both teams came up empty on their next possessions, and the Waves found themselves with the ball with less than a minute to play and a chance to go up by two. After a few passes around the perimeter, Csapo got the ball and floated it over the goalkeeper's hands into the back of the cage to put Pepperdine up 17-15 with 45 seconds to play. California Baptist made it a one goal game with 36 seconds left after a penalty goal, but Gal was able to draw an exclusion on the next possession and help the Waves run out the clock to defeat the Lancers 17-16.
 
Pepperdine was led by Erik Ionescu who tied his career-high with five goals and earned his fifth hat-trick of the season.
 
CBU 5-4-2-5 — 16
PEPP 5-4-6-2 — 17
 
Pepperdine goals: Erik Ionescu 5, Adam Csapo 4, Bronson Birdsall 2, Anthony D'Ambra 2, Conor Brough 1, Jon Carcarey 1, Sandor Gal 1, Clay Kaneko 1.
 
UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine will finish their three game homestand as the Waves take on #12 San Jose State on Saturday, November 9 at noon, and tickets to the game can be found here. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, and a link to the stream can be found on the water polo team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.
 
Saturday will also serve as senior day where Pepperdine's five seniors will be honored before the contest. In addition, the alumni game will follow the conclusion of the game and start at approximately 2 p.m.
 
FOLLOW
 
Follow @PeppWaterPolo on X for updates and check out PepperdineWaves.com and Facebook (/PeppWaterPolo) for releases and more information. Find the Waves on Instagram @peppwaterpolo.