2025 Men's Water Polo Preseason Poll & Team (.pdf) | 2025 Schedule

Long Beach State (20-10, 2-3 BW) has been chosen as the preseason favorite in the 2025 Big West Men's Water Polo Coaches' Poll, as voted on by the league's six head coaches. 

The defending conference champion Beach earned 29 points and five first-place votes to take the top spot in back-to-back seasons. Coaches in the league also voted on a preseason team, where LBSU placed two student-athletes on the list in sophomore center Gabi Acosta and junior attacker Caleb Francisco. 

In total, Long Beach State, UC San Diego, and UC Irvine each placed a pair of student-athletes on the preseason team, while UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara boast one apiece. 

Acosta returns to the Beach as the reigning Big West Player and Freshman of the Year behind 64 goals, 28 steals, and five assists a year ago. Franisco found the back of the net 47 times last year and received an All-Big West First Team nod alongside Acosta.  

Last year's conference runner-up UC San Diego (17-12, 3-2 BW) follows in second place with 20 points alongside a first-place vote. The Tritons also secured a pair of preseason selections in senior attacker Landon Akerstrom and graduate attacker Felipe Ferreira. Akerstrom, a Costa Mesa product, led the Tritons in scoring last year with 59 goals (76 points), while Ferreira found the back of the net 24 times and assisted on 31 tallies. In 2024, the Tritons became the first team in UCSD to reach a Big West Championship Final.  

2025 Big West Men's Water Polo Championship host UC Irvine (18-9, 5-0 BW) sits in third place in the polling at 18 points. Senior attacker Luka Krstic headlines the Anteaters' offensive unit, scoring 52 times last season. Senior utility Jack Stevens was also named to the preseason team after tallying 30 goals last season. The 'Eaters enter the year defending a consecutive regular season title and earned the conference crown back in 2023. 

UC Davis (10-14, 3-2 BW) slots into fourth with 13 points and celebrates the preseason recognition of redshirt sophomore Thomas Kiesling. As a member of the 2024 Big West All-Freshman team, the attacker appeared in all 24 games for the Aggies and contributed a team-high 51 tallies.  

In the fifth place spot is UC Santa Barbara (15-12, 2-3 BW) with nine points. The Gauchos are represented on the preseason squad by redshirt senior attacker Brock Zamanian, who returns to lead UCSB after putting up a league-best 92 points (52 goals, 40 assists).  

Cal State Fullerton (11-18, 0-5) rounds out the poll in sixth with six points as the Titans enter their third season of competition under head coach Kyle Witt. 

Five Big West squads finished in the final rankings of the CWPA poll, with the Beach at No. 6, the Tritons at No. 11, the Aggies at No. 13, the Guachos at No. 14, and the Anteaters at No. 15. 

The 2025 Big West men's water polo season begins Friday, Aug. 29 , at the Triton Invitational hosted by UC San Diego while the 'Eaters also host the UCI Invitational. The 2025 Big West Men's Water Polo Championship will be held Friday, Nov. 21-23 at Anteater Aquatics Complex in Irvine, Calif., with the winner claiming the league's automatic berth to the National Collegiate Championship. 

Select regular-season contests are slated for telecast on the ESPN family of networks. Please check ESPN listings for upcoming game schedules and additional information.