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What 2 Watch 4
- Big West competition officially concluded last week as our schools played their final conference games.
No. 8 UC Irvine capped off 2024 with a perfect 5-0 showing in Big West play. No. 10 UC San Diego and No. 11 UC Davis both finished the season with 3-2 records while No. 14 UC Santa Barbara and No. 12 Long Beach State also finished with identical records at 2-3 in conference. Cal State Fullerton was competitive but did not take home a Big West win this year.
Only three final games are left in 2024’s docket with all contests counting towards non-conference.
The Beach take the short trip to Los Angeles to battle No. 19 LMU while UCSD hosts Westcliff in La Jolla, with both matchups occurring simultaneously on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Another chapter in the Black and Blue rivalry will be written in our final matchup of the 2024 season when LBSU visit UCI on Friday at 6 p.m.
Around the Pool
- No. 9 UC Irvine (18-7, 5-0 BW) - The Anteaters secured the regular season title once more with a dominating 21-7 win over CSF, completing their perfect Big West season. Sophomore attacker Johann Thrall led all scorers with a career-high six tallies in the title clinching contest. UCI remained at Anteater Aquatics Complex for another convincing win over Whittier, 27-11. The ‘Eaters are winners of nine straight, accounting as the longest winning streak in The Big West.
No. 10 UC San Diego (14-10, 3-2 BW) & No. 11 UC Davis (9-13, 3-2 BW) - UCSD pushed past UCD in a tightly contested 12-11 decision at Schaal Aquatics Center to conclude both squads Big West campaigns. The Aggies suffered a 9-4 deficit before roaring back and knotting the game, 11 all. With a lone second remaining in regulation, senior utility Eamon Hennessey scored the game-winner to give the Tritons a 12-11 advantage and victory. Both schools finished with 3-2 mark in conference in 2024.
No. 14 UC Santa Barbara (14-9, 2-3 BW) & No. 11 Long Beach State (15-10, 2-3 BW) - UC Santa Barbara fought back after being down four scores at the half and completed its comeback bid over LBSU, 15-13 in overtime. Center Dom Brown found the back of the net a game-high four times and scored one of the Gauchos two tallies in OT along with Luke Bachler. UCSB and LBSU will clash once again in the opening round of the 2024 Big West Men's Water Polo Championship.
Poll Position
- The Big West sees five of its six schools in the latest edition of the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) poll.
UC Irvine stays put at the No. 8 spot handling Cal State Fullerton and claiming back-to-back Big West regular-season championships.
UC San Diego unlocks its highest national ranking of the season at No. 10 overall.
UC Davis sits right behind at No. 11 while Long Beach State also trails UCSD, and UCD at No. 12.
UC Santa Barbara remains as the No. 14 team in the nation for the third straight week.
Chammpionship Tickets on Sale Now!
- The Big West announced today the ticket pricing structure for the 2024 Big West Men's Water Polo Championship.
The 2024 championship features the top six teams vying for The Big West crown and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Men's Water Polo Championship. The championship will be held at Schaal Aquatics Center on the campus of UC Davis, Friday, November 22 through Sunday, November 24, 2024.
Individual session tickets will go on sale on Tuesday, October 22, 2024. Individual session ticket prices are $25 per session for adults and $10 for students each day of competition.
Tickets can be purchased here. For more information on the championship, please visit BigWest.org/MWPCHAMPS.
In 2023, top-seeded UC Irvine defeated No. 2 UC Santa Barbara in dramatic fashion, 11-9, to clinch the Big West Men's Water Polo Championship in La Jolla, Calif on Nov. 19. The Gauchos held the lead early in the third period before the Anteaters came roaring back with a string of three unanswered to grab the lead which wouldn't be relinquished. The Championship marked the first season back as a Big West sponsored sport after a 22-year hiatus.
"UC Davis did a fantastic job in hosting the 2023 Big West Women's Water Polo Championship, and we expect the same level of fan experience and excitement when the men hit the pool this November," Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly said. "We were pleased to have two teams in NCAA post-season play a year ago and look forward to building on that momentum in 2024."
We Host Champions!
- The Big West is proud to boast that both UC San Diego and UC Davis will host the NCAA Men's Water Polo National Collegiate Finals in back-to-back season. The Tritons will take hosting responsibilities in the year 2026 while the Aggies will welcome everyone in 2027. For the fourth time in its history, the NCAA conducted a comprehensive site selection process in 2024, putting most of its championships up for bid simultaneously.
The Association chose over 240 host sites for preliminary and final rounds of predetermined championships across Divisions I, II and III, primarily for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons. This cycle marked a shift from a four-year to a two-year site selection process.
The Tritons last hosted the event in 2014 as a Division II team. The 2026 National Collegiate Finals will be the first time they will host as a Division I squad.
For the fourth time in its history, the NCAA conducted a comprehensive site selection process in 2024, putting most of its championships up for bid simultaneously.
For the first time since 2006 at the NCAA National Women's Water Polo Championships and only the third time in history, Schaal Aquatics Center will play host to the NCAA National Men's Water Polo Championships, welcoming the nation's best to Davis in 2027.
Already a hosting venue, playing home to the 2024 Big West Men's Water Polo Tournament, Schaal Aquatics Center made its debut onto campus in 2003 and has already seen high-level action in its history. In the past, Davis hosted the 2005 United States Men's Water Polo Championships and in the 2004-05 seasons, the pool was used for the Western Water Polo Association Championships for both the men's and women's teams.
Big West Weekly Recognition
- Adam Gyenis has been named The Big West Men’s Water Polo Player of the Week honor after a pair of stellar performances for the Gauchos. This is the second weekly distinction of the senior’s career (Sept. 27, 2023). During UCSB’s two contests, Gyenis found the back of the net five times and dished five assists on the weekend. The Budapest, Hungary native notched a hat trick and added four assists alongside a steal and a field block in the Gauchos comeback victory in overtime versus No. 10 Long Beach State, 15-13. No. 14 UC Santa Barbara squared off against No. 4 USC where Gyenis gathered two more tallies and an assist. Gyenis now ranks eighth in program history with 158 career goals. UCSB capped off the regular season with a 15-11 overall record and 2-3 mark in Big West action.
Preseason Prognostics
-The Beach were appointed the top spot following 22 points and three first-place votes after finishing with a 16-12, 2-3 BW record last season.
Coaches in the league also voted on a seven-person preseason team as Long Beach State saw a duo of student-athletes make the squad with senior attack Evan Cain and senior utility Bruno Chiappini. Cain contributed 60 goals and 21 assists for the Beach while Chiappini collected 47 tallies and 25 assists for the Beach a year ago. The duo also sports All-Big West First Team honors for their efforts in 2023.
Trailing right behind LBSU in the preseason rankings is defending Big West champion UC Irvine (18-10, 4-1 BW) with 21 points and two first-place votes. The Anteaters also placed a pair on the preseason team with junior attack Luka Krstic and graduate goalkeeper Jacob Pyle. Krstic compiled an Anteater high of 69 points last year and tallied two crucial goals in UCI's championship victory a year ago. Pyle is placed on the preseason team after earning Big West Tournament MVP for the goalkeeper's performance in the postseason.
UC San Diego sits in third place with 17 points and a lone first-place vote. Junior utility Bennett Axline represents the Tritons on the preseason team after leading UCSD a year ago in goals (59), shots (116), and drawn exclusions (83).
UC Davis (16-10, 3-2 BW) slides into the fourth spot at 13 votes while watching graduate utility Aleix Aznar Beltran earn preseason recognition. The Barcelona, Spain native led the Aggies in 2023 with 78 points across 48 goals and 30 assists.
Last year's runner-up UC Santa Barbara (17-13, 3-2 BW) sits in fifth place with 12 votes. The Gauchos return redshirt junior Levin Lentin in goal who stopped 188 shots at .449 save percentage to make way on the preseason list.
Cal State Fullerton rounds out the poll with five points. Last year, the Titans held their inaugural season in 2024 and finished the season with a .500 mark overall (16-16, 0-5 BW).
In the preseason addition of the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), UC Irvine (No. 6), UC Davis (No. 8), Long Beach State (No. 10), UC Santa Barbara (No. 11), and UC San Diego (No. 12) all occupy national rankings ahead of 2024.
The first date of Big West men's water polo competition begins on Saturday, Sept. 7 in La Jolla, Calif. during the Triton Invitational on the campus of UC San Diego. A schedule of matchups held during opening week can be found here and on our Big West website.
Schaal Aquatics Center will serve as the host site for the 2024 Big West Men's Water Polo Championship from Nov. 22-24 on the campus of UC Davis. The winner of the championship will receive the league's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Championship.
Select regular-season contests are slated to be telecast on the ESPN family of networks. Please check ESPN listings for upcoming game schedules and additional information.
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