Pepperdine University
UC San Diego
No. 11 Water Polo Heads North for MPSF Invite
9/17/2026 1:45:00 PM | Men's Water Polo
MALIBU, Calif. — No. 11 Pepperdine water polo (4-6) will play four games in three days at the MPSF Invite, set for Sept. 18-20 from Avery Aquatic Center on the campus of Stanford University.
The Waves will begin with a matchup against No. 9 UC San Diego (7-1) Friday at 3:20 p.m. Pepperdine will return Saturday at 8 a.m., taking on either No. 1 UCLA (8-0) or Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1-5) pending the results of Friday's contests. The Waves will play a second game Saturday at either 1:40 p.m. or 3 p.m., followed by a single game on Sunday at a time to be determined. The full bracket and schedule for the tournament can be found here.
The annual tournament brings together 16 of the top programs in the country for a bracket-style competition across four days of action. The Waves are seeded at No. 9 in the bracket. All games will be streamed live on overnght (subscription required).
Pepperdine Schedule
Friday, Sept. 18
No. 11 Pepperdine vs. No 9 UC San Diego — 3:20 p.m. (WATCH)
Saturday, Sept. 19
No. 11 Pepperdine vs. No. 1 UCLA or Claremont-Mudd-Scripps — 8 a.m.
No. 11 Pepperdine vs. TBD — 1:40 p.m. or 3 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 20
No. 11 Pepperdine vs. TBD — TBD
LAST TIME OUT
- The Waves dropped a pair of contests on the east coast last weekend, falling at No. 5 Fordham, 16-12, before a 12-9 loss at No. 12 Princeton.
- Erik Ionescu (four goals) and Jon Carcarey (three goals) each netted hat tricks against the Rams, while Milo Joseph drew seven exclusions.
- Ionescu led the way against Princeton with two goals, two assists and two steals.
- Max Smirnov combined for 19 saves across the two contests in the cage.
GAME NOTES
- The Waves enter play ranked No. 11 in the CWPA national rankings.
- Erik Ionescu currently ranks third in the West Coast Conference (WCC) in points (42) and points per game (4.2).
- Ionescu has paced the Waves with 25 goals and 17 assists this season, ranking within the conference's top-five in both categories.
- Ionescu has logged multiple goals in eight of ten games this season, while collecting an assist in nine of ten.
- Max Smirnov has paced the conference in both save-percentage (.453) and steals per game (1.4) to this point in the season.
- Smirnov has posted double-digit saves in five of eight full games this season.Â
- Brian Barnuevo is seventh in the WCC with 22 goals while ranking second on the Waves with 25 total points.
- Cade Anderton has also posted 25 points, joining Ionescu as the lone Waves with double-digit goals and assists so far this season.
- Hunter Danko has begun his collegiate career with an eight-game goal streak.
- Danko ranks second among freshmen in the WCC with 16 goals this season.
- Tyce di Pretoro has contributed at least one point in all ten games this season.
- di Pretoro has also paced all freshmen in the conference with 15 assists.
- Jackson Benners has led the Waves defensively with eight field blocks and 11 steals through the opening ten contests.
- Benners has also posted seven goals and seven assists.
- Milo Joseph has drawn a team-high 30 exclusions at center to go with nine goals.
- Csanád Bella and Ivan Khramtsov have each posted seven points and 14 drawn exclusions.
- The Waves have assisted on 104 of 146 goals this season.
- Pepperdine has scored 82 goals in the second half of games compared to 64 in the first half.
SERIES HISTORY
- The Waves hold a 53-10-1 all-time record against UC San Diego.
- This includes a 22-3-1 mark at neutral sites.
- The Tritons defeated the Waves 17-15 in overtime earlier this season at the Triton Invite.
- Among its potential day two opponents, the Waves are 31-85-1 all-time against UCLA and 30-0 against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.Â
- Pepperdine defeated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 23-6 earlier this season at the Triton Invite.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
- UC San Diego enters play with a 7-1 overall record this season.
- The Tritons are currently riding a four-game winning streak and come in at No. 9 in this week's CWPA poll.
- Their most recent contest saw them prevail 16-9 at Cal State Fullerton this past Friday.
- UCLA remains undefeated at 8-0 on the year while maintaining its spot at No. 1 in the national rankings.
- Claremont-Mudd-Scripps enters the tournament with a 1-5 record, defeating Biola 13-12 in its most recent game.
The Waves will return home next weekend to host No. 1 UCLA on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 1 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.
TICKETS
For more information on upcoming home events and to purchase tickets, visit here.
FOLLOW
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