2025 Men's Water Polo Roster
Roster
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Jersey Number 1
Zach Cwiertnia
- Position:
- Goalie
- Height:
- 6-0
- Weight:
- 190
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Villa Park, Calif.
- High School:
- Santa Margarita Catholic
2025: Appeared in four games for the Waves ... Totaled 16 saves, six assists and five steals ... Posted eight saves with seven goals against to go along with three steals and three assists against Whittier (Sept. 11) ... Logged eight saves with two assists and a steal against UC Merced (Oct. 25).
2024: Did not appear for the Waves during junior campaign.
2023: Played in six games as a sophomore and started two … Had a .610 save percentage on the year … Tallied 36 saves on the year including nine blocked shots against Cal State Maritime (9/17) … WCC Commissioner’s Honor Roll ‘Bronze’ honors … Pepperdine Scholar-Athlete.
PEPPERDINE 2022: Appeared in 15 games as a freshman … Had a season save percentage of .381 … Had a season-high 13 saves against Princeton (10/18).
HIGH SCHOOL: Graduated from Santa Margarita Catholic High School, located in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., in 2022 ... Played three years of varsity water polo ... Earned All-CIF first team and All-Trinity League first team as a senior and was listed among the Orange County Register’s top 10 players to watch ... Averaged 11 saves per game ... Also made the All-Trinity League second team as a junior ... Won Trinity League championship in 2020 and 2021 ... An Academic All-American.
CLUB: Competed on the USA Development and USA Cadet teams ... Played club with SoCal and Kahuna ... Won a Junior Olympics championship in 2022.
PERSONAL: Born in Orange County ... Son of Lynnette and Douglas Cwiertnia ... Has three siblings: Ashley, Sarah and Jason ... His oldest sister played softball at Penn ... Chose to attend Pepperdine because “I loved the coaching staff and the family atmosphere on the team. Everybody is a brother here. And the family extends to all the staff that helps us along in our athletic journeys. It’s a type of family that’s not worth trading because you’ll never get something like this again.”
FAVORITES: Enjoys the beach and slacklining ... Favorites include Klay Thompson (pro athlete), Chicago Bears (pro team), The Giving Tree (book), Point Break (movie), Euphoria (TV show), Steve Lacy (musical artist), burritos (food) and pickleball (sport other than water polo) ... Favorite things about water polo are “the aggressiveness and the mental aspects of the game.”
2024: Did not appear for the Waves during junior campaign.
2023: Played in six games as a sophomore and started two … Had a .610 save percentage on the year … Tallied 36 saves on the year including nine blocked shots against Cal State Maritime (9/17) … WCC Commissioner’s Honor Roll ‘Bronze’ honors … Pepperdine Scholar-Athlete.
PEPPERDINE 2022: Appeared in 15 games as a freshman … Had a season save percentage of .381 … Had a season-high 13 saves against Princeton (10/18).
HIGH SCHOOL: Graduated from Santa Margarita Catholic High School, located in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., in 2022 ... Played three years of varsity water polo ... Earned All-CIF first team and All-Trinity League first team as a senior and was listed among the Orange County Register’s top 10 players to watch ... Averaged 11 saves per game ... Also made the All-Trinity League second team as a junior ... Won Trinity League championship in 2020 and 2021 ... An Academic All-American.
CLUB: Competed on the USA Development and USA Cadet teams ... Played club with SoCal and Kahuna ... Won a Junior Olympics championship in 2022.
PERSONAL: Born in Orange County ... Son of Lynnette and Douglas Cwiertnia ... Has three siblings: Ashley, Sarah and Jason ... His oldest sister played softball at Penn ... Chose to attend Pepperdine because “I loved the coaching staff and the family atmosphere on the team. Everybody is a brother here. And the family extends to all the staff that helps us along in our athletic journeys. It’s a type of family that’s not worth trading because you’ll never get something like this again.”
FAVORITES: Enjoys the beach and slacklining ... Favorites include Klay Thompson (pro athlete), Chicago Bears (pro team), The Giving Tree (book), Point Break (movie), Euphoria (TV show), Steve Lacy (musical artist), burritos (food) and pickleball (sport other than water polo) ... Favorite things about water polo are “the aggressiveness and the mental aspects of the game.”
