Pepperdine University
California
10/22/2026 1:38:00 PM | Men's Water Polo
MALIBU, Calif. — No. 16 Pepperdine water polo (8-11, 2-2 WCC) will head to the Bay Area for a pair of non-conference games this week.
The Waves will travel to No. 4 Cal (11-4, 1-2 MPSF), with the matchup with the Bears set for 1 p.m. on Friday in Berkeley. Pepperdine will then take on No. 20 Brown (17-5, 3-2 NWPC) on Saturday at 2:20 p.m. in a neutral site contest, hosted at Santa Clara as part of the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament. The Waves were originally scheduled to also play Harvard on Saturday, but the contest with the Crimson has been cancelled.
Friday's contest at Cal will have streaming available on Overnght (subscription required) with live stats available on 68sports. Saturday's matchup at Santa Clara will have a single-camera stream live on the Broncos website, with live stats on the FOSH.
The trip marks Pepperdine's second of four to Northern California, having played the MPSF Invite in September at Stanford already. The Waves will return for WCC matchups at Saint Mary's (Nov.6) and Pacific (Nov. 8) ahead of the WCC Championships hosted by Santa Clara from Nov. 20-22.
Friday, Oct. 23
No. 16 Pepperdine at No. 4 Cal — 1 p.m. (Berkeley, Calif.)
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Saturday, Oct. 24
No. 16 Pepperdine vs. No. 20 Brown — 2:20 p.m. (Santa Clara, Calif.)
WATCH | LIVE STATS
LAST TIME OUT
- The Waves split a pair of conference games at home this past weekend.
- Pepperdine took down Santa Clara by a score of 17-16 last Saturday before falling 16-13 to San Jose State.
- Hunter Danko led the Waves with four goals in each game, while Erik Ionescu also collected four points in each effort.
- Pepperdine moved to 2-2 in WCC play with the weekend split.
GAME NOTES
- Pepperdine enters the week ranked No. 16 in this week's CWPA poll.
- The Waves are tied for third in the WCC standings with a 2-2 record in the league.
- The Waves have scored and allowed 265Â goals this season.
- Erik Ionescu has led the Waves with 49 goals and 35 assists this season.
- Ionescu ranks third in the West Coast Conference in goals, assists and points (84).
- Ionescu has scored multiple goals in 11 of his last 12 games including seven straight contests.
- Hunter Danko has posted 44 goals this season which ranks fifth in the WCC and first among all freshmen in the conference.
- Danko has scored a goal in all 17 games that he's appeared in this season, including a streak of nine straight games with multiple goals.
- Danko earned WCC Player and Newcomer of the Week earlier this month and has claimed conference Newcomer of the Week twice this season.
- Danko netted a career-high six goals against No. 1 UCLA on Sept. 26.
- Tyce di Pretoro ranks third on the Waves with 37 points this season through 13 goals and 24 assists.
- Max Smirnov has posted a .423 save-percentage this season while leading the Waves with 27 steals this season, which also leads the WCC.
- Smirnov ranks second in the conference with 166 saves and is third in save-percentage.
- Smirnov scored his lone goal of the season going the full length of the pool to beat the buzzer and defeat Air Force in overtime.
- Jackson Benners matched a career-high with three goals against Santa Clara last week.
- Benners ranks second in the conference with 11 field blocks this season.
- Brian Barnuevo registered his eighth multi-goal effort against San Jose State on Sunday.
- Barnuevo became the third Wave to reach the 30-goal mark this season.
- Csanád Bella has contributed 12 goals, 19 steals and eight field blocks on the season.
- Bella's 19 steals ranks eighth in the WCC while his eight field blocks is ninth.
- Bella is one of three in the conference to rank top-10 in both steals and field blocks.
- Jon Carcarey has posted 16 goals, eight assists, 11 steals and seven field blocks this season.
- Milo Joseph has paced the Waves with 53 drawn exclusions so far, to go along with 18 goals at center.
- Joseph had a hat trick last week against Santa Clara, his third-such effort this season.
SERIES HISTORY
- The Waves have a 17-63-1 all-time record against Cal.
- This includes a 5-21 mark in Berkeley.
- The sides have gone 3-3 in the most recent six meetings dating back to 2019.
- The Bears earned a 14-12 win last season at home.
- Pepperdine has gone 9-2 in 11 all-time matchups with Brown.
- The sides have played thrice at neutral sites, with Pepperdine winning all three.
- The most recent meeting came in 2023, with Pepperdine earning a 22-10 victory in Providence.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
- Cal enters ranked No. 4 in the nation behind an 11-4 overall record.
- Cal boasts a perfect 4-0 record at home this season.
- Cal has gone 5-0 against five different WCC opponents so far this season.
- Cal is coming off wins against No. 1 Stanford and No. 6 Princeton in their most recent two outings.
- Beso Akhvlediani has led the way for Cal through 41 goals and 30 assists this season.
- Brown broke back into the national rankings this week at No. 20, as the Bears have gone 17-5 so far this fall.
- Brown has a 1-2 record this season against WCC opponents.
- Brown took down UC Merced in their last contest 17-11, after dropping an 18-14 decision to No. 15 Navy.
- Roland Csendes has logged 58 goals and 87 points this season to pace Brown's offense.
The Waves will return home next for a conference matchup against No. 10 UC Davis, with game time set for noon on Friday, Oct. 30 from Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.
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 67 athletes garner All-American honors while boasting a winning record in 37 of 51 seasons.
TICKETS
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