No. 10 Pepperdine men’s water polo will face No. 17 Santa Clara in the quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference (WCC) Tournament on Friday. The match is scheduled for 2 p.m. Mountain Time at Cadet Natatorium and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Pepperdine enters the tournament as the third seed, holding a 16-10 overall record and a 3-3 mark in WCC play. Santa Clara is seeded sixth with a 9-13 overall record and a 2-4 conference record. The winner of this game will move on to play either second-seeded San Jose State or seventh-seeded Air Force on Saturday.
The Waves are seeking their first WCC Championship in their third year as members of the conference, as well as a return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.
In their most recent matchup, Pepperdine secured a 15-9 win over Santa Clara. Erik Ionescu led with four goals, while Csanád Bella recorded three goals. Jon Carcarey contributed five points and three steals, and Max Smirnov made ten saves.
Seven Pepperdine players received postseason honors from the WCC. Erik Ionescu and Max Smirnov were named to the All-WCC Second Team. Ionescu led Pepperdine with 88 points during the regular season, including 53 goals and 35 assists, and was named WCC Player of the Week following his performance against Santa Clara. Smirnov finished second in save percentage (.466) and total saves (216) in the conference.
Csanád Bella earned All-WCC Freshman Team recognition after scoring 23 goals along with collecting 15 steals and making 16 field blocks this season. He was also named WCC Newcomer of the Week following his hat trick against Santa Clara.
Other honorees include Jon Carcarey, Sandor Gal, Dane Howell, and Matty Walsh, who each received All-WCC Honorable Mention status. Carcarey tallied 53 points and made 25 steals this season; Gal notched 86 points (40 goals, 46 assists), led the conference in field blocks (19), and ranked ninth in total points; Howell scored 54 goals with an additional 31 assists; Walsh led all scorers for Pepperdine with 55 goals across 24 games.
Additional contributors include Brian Barnuevo and Owen Tift, who both recorded over forty points each this season. Gal, Smirnov, and Charles Warmington were also recognized for academic achievements by earning WCC All-Academic Team Honorable Mention.
Pepperdine currently has a five-game winning streak—the longest active streak in the conference—and holds a neutral site record of six wins to three losses this year. In previous appearances at the WCC Tournament, they have one win and two losses.
Historically, Pepperdine leads its series against Santa Clara with fourteen wins to two losses overall—including three consecutive victories since joining the WCC—and is currently on a five-game winning streak against them.
Santa Clara’s top player Riccardo De Simon leads his team with sixty-six goals this season; he earned All-WCC First Team honors while Henry Engs was named to the Second Team.
Pepperdine water polo has been successful over several decades under Terry Schroeder before Merrill Moses took over as head coach after last season. The program won its only national championship in 1997 when Moses was starting goalie and has reached thirteen NCAA Tournaments overall.
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