No. 8 Water Polo Defeats McKendree & Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to Open 2026 Season

Saturday, August 29

San Diego, Calif.

8:00 AM

Pepperdine University

McKendree

No. 8 Water Polo Defeats McKendree & Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to Open 2026 Season

8/29/2026 7:16:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

LA JOLLA, Calif. — No. 8 Pepperdine water polo (2-0) earned a pair of victories to begin the 2026 season at the Triton Invite, hosted by UC San Diego.

The Waves took down McKendree by a score of 23-7 in the season opener before defeating Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 16-9 to cap the doubleheader sweep.

Pepperdine begins the season with a 2-0 record for the fifth straight season with the pair of victories to open the campaign.

"Today was a good start to the season where we came away with two victories," noted head coach Merrill Moses. "Our depth definitely helped us perform at a high level late in the games today. The team is going to rest and recover and get prepared for two tough opponents tomorrow."

No. 8 Pepperdine 23, McKendree 7
The Waves took an early lead over McKendree in the first-ever meeting between the two programs, with Erik Ionescu tallying the first goal of the season for the Waves. Alex Piccin, Brian Barnuevo and Charles Warmington each added goals in the opening frame as the Waves led 4-2 through one period.

Pepperdine broke out with seven goals in the second frame to take an 11-5 lead into halftime. The Waves saw the seven goals in the period come from six different goalscorers, with Warmington notching a pair to secure a first half hat trick.

The Waves continued their strong play in the second half, extending the lead to 15-6 through three periods of play with goals from Jon Carcarey, Owen Tift, Jackson Benners and Bella in the period.

Pepperdine held on to its sizable lead throughout the final period, extending to an eventual 23-7 decision. Freshmen Tyce di Pretoro and Will Stuart each notched their first collegiate goals in the win.

Max Smirnov made four saves to pick up the win in the cage for Pepperdine. Barnuevo led the way for the Waves with five goals, two assists and three steals. Alex Piccin (four goals), Cade Anderton (three goals) also netted hat tricks to open their campaign.

No. 8 Pepperdine 16, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 9
Pepperdine once again got out on the front foot, with Jon Carcarey scoring the first goal of the game less than a minute in before a Barnuevo tally gave the Waves an early 2-1 lead.

The game was eventually knotted at 7-7 at halftime with the team's trading goals. Ionescu tallied two in the second period as Milo Joseph scored in the final minute of the half to even up the score.

Pepperdine used a 4-0 run out of halftime to pull away and gain a lead which it held through the remainder of the game. Joseph netted the first of the half which was followed by a goal from Ionescu and a pair from Barnuevo. The Waves led 12-8 heading into the final frame.

Barnuevo eventually netted his team-leading fifth goal of the game to help the Waves pick up the 16-9 win. Ionescu finished with three goals and four assists to pace Pepperdine with seven points. Joseph (three goals) and Anderton (two goals) also netted multiple tallies for the Waves. Jaxon Leach made six saves to go along with four steals to earn the win in goal.

The Waves return tomorrow to take on No. 7 Long Beach State at 10:40 a.m. before a matchup at No. 12 UC San Diego at 4 p.m. Both games will be streamed on overnight.com with live stats for the UCSD contest on the FOSH.

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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