MALIBU, Calif. – No. 12 Pepperdine water polo (5-2) will head into Los Angeles to take on No. 1 UCLA (7-0) on Saturday afternoon from Spieker Aquatics Center.

The game is set for 3:00 p.m. and can be streamed live on Overnght.com (subscription required) with live stats available on 6-8sports.com.

The Waves enter following a sudden death overtime win at home on Thursday over No. 19 UC Santa Barbara. The undefeated Bruins will host both No. 8 UC Irvine and RV Harvard on Friday ahead of the matchup.

"UCLA is a tremendously talented team with a lot of depth and they are number one in the country for a reason," noted head coach Merrill Moses. "Our team has been training extremely hard and is prepared to compete with anyone in the country."

LAST TIME OUT

• The Waves swept a doubleheader with Whittier and No. 19 UC Santa Barbara on Thursday at home.
• Pepperdine routed Whittier by a score of 22-7 with 14 different goalscorers.
• The Waves then came back from a four-goal deficit to take down UCSB by a score of 15-14.
• Dane Howell netted the game winner in sudden death overtime against the Gauchos.

GAME NOTES

• Dane Howell has led the Waves with 18 goals and 23 points this season.
• Howell has scored multiple goals in five of seven games this season and had a hat trick in both games on Thursday.
• Matty Walsh has found the back of the cage in every game this season and deposited four pivotal goals in the win over No. 19 UC Santa Barbara.
• Sandor Gal has continued his all-around play for the Waves, totaling 12 goals, 10 assists and 10 steals on the season.
• Erik Ionescu had a season-high five goals and seven points to lead the Waves to the victory over No. 19 UC Santa Barbara.
• Max Smirnov has logged a .514 save-percentage and 9.38 GAA in four appearances this season and three starts.
• Freshmen Csanád Bella has scored five goals on the season thus far while freshman Brian Barnuevo has tallied four goals and four assists.
• Bella and Barnuevo each made their first career starts against No. 19 UC Santa Barbara.
• Reed Pantaleon broke out on Thursday with four total goals, scoring twice in each victory.
• Nick Bryant, Cameron Bench, Gabe Lewis and Woden Chompff each netted their first Pepperdine goals in the win over Whittier.
• The 22 goals against the Poets marked a new season-high while the seven goals allowed marked the fewest.
• Zach Cwiertnia made eight saves in his first start of the season in the cage while allowing seven goals.
• The Waves have picked up three ranked victories this season over Navy, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara.
• Pepperdine is 1-0 in true road games this season.

SERIES HISTORY

• The Waves hold a 31-84-1 all-time record against the Bruins. 
• Pepperdine is 7-22 in games played at UCLA.
• The most recent matchup at UCLA saw the Waves fall 10-9 in overtime in 2023.
• The 2024 meeting in Malibu saw the Bruins come away with an 18-12 victory.
• The Waves will look to snap a 25-game losing streak in the series.

SCOUTING THE BRUINS

• The defending national champions enter play ranked No. 1 in the country by the CWPA.
• UCLA played a similar schedule to the Waves at the Triton Invite with three common opponents. The Bruins defeated Navy, UC Davis and UC San Diego by a combined score of 54-16.
• The season has also seen them pick up a 16-9 win over then No. 4 Fordham.
• The Bruins return four All-Americans from the 2024 campaign including ACWPC National Player of the Year Ryder Dodd.
• Dodd has led the way this season with 17 goals through seven games with Bode Brinkema tabbing 15.

The Waves will head back to UCLA next weekend for the MPSF Invite held from Sept. 19-21. The tournament matchups will be announced at a later date.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE WATER POLO
Pepperdine water polo has seen success spanning decades under Terry Schroeder who gave the reins to Merrill Moses following the 2023 season. Highlighted by its national championship in 1997 with Moses as the starting goalie, the Waves have reached the NCAA Tournament on 13 occasions and recently won the inaugural WCC Regular Season Championship in 2023. Overall, the program has seen 60 athletes garner All-American honors while boasting a winning record in 36 of 50 seasons.

TICKETS
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