No. 16 Water Polo Picks Up Road Victory at No. 13 Pacific

Sunday, November 8

Stockton, Calif.

1:00 PM

Pepperdine University

10-13, 3-3WCC

Pacific

10-9, 3-3WCC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Pepperdine	4	3	3	3	13
Pacific	3	2	2	3	10

11/8/2026 4:03:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

STOCKTON, Calif. — No. 16 Pepperdine water polo (11-13, 4-3 WCC) collected a 13-10 victory at Pacific (10-10, 3-4 WCC) Sunday afternoon in Stockton.

With the win, Pepperdine secured the No. 4 seed in the West Coast Conference Tournament, as the Waves will matchup with fifth-seeded Santa Clara on Friday, Nov. 20 at a time to be announced for a quarterfinal matchup.

The victory marked Pepperdine's first win at Pacific since 2016, as the Tigers had won eight of the past ten matchups entering play today.

The Waves did not trail at any point in the game, as Pepperdine's attack was consistent throughout, scoring at least three goals in each frame.

Tyce di Pretoro had a career-high five points in the win with two goals and three assists, while adding two field blocks defensively. Hunter Danko, Alex Piccin and Charles Warmington each netted a pair of goals, as nine different Waves found the back of the cage throughout the contest.

Max Smirnov made 11 saves in goal to earn the win for the Waves.

"I'm very proud of the team and how we played today," said head coach Merrill Moses following the win. "It was another great team win with productivity from a lot of different players on the defensive and offensive ends of the pool. Holding a team like UOP to 10 goals is a great accomplishment. The team is going in the right direction and working towards playing our best water polo at the end of the year at the WCC Tournament!"

Pepperdine got out to a solid start, converting on two of its three power play opportunities in the first five minutes. After Jon Carcarey began the game with a goal on the opening possession, Danko and di Pretoro tallied 6-on-5 goals to put the Waves on top early.

Pacific would answer with the next two goals, but a Milo Joseph score with 1:21 left in the first was the difference heading into the second period, with a 4-3 Waves lead.

All in all, Pepperdine saw seven different goalscorers in the first half across its seven goals, as Piccin, Warmington and Erik Ionescu had second period goals, ultimately giving Pepperdine a 7-5 lead at halftime.

Pacific found life to begin the second half with consecutive goals to even the score at seven, but it was all Waves from there on out as Pepperdine shut out the home side for the final 6:26 of the third period, while tallying three more goals. Piccin notched his second of the game while Ivan Khramtsov and Brian Barnuevo made it a 10-7 scoreline heading into the fourth quarter.

The Tigers cut it back down to two at 11-9 with 6:09 remaining, with Warmington quickly restoring the three-goal lead on the ensuing possession. The Waves continued to get stops down the stretch, with di Pretoro's third goal of the game being the dagger with 1:54 remaining. Pacific tallied one more in the closing minute, as Pepperdine secured the 13-10 victory on the road.

The win gave the Waves a 4-3 final mark in conference play, as the Waves have yet to finish with a losing record in WCC play in its four years of existence.

The Waves will conclude the regular season this Saturday at home for senior day, hosting Long Beach State at 5 p.m. 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.

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