STOCKTON, Calif. – The #17 Pacific men's water polo team prepares for the inaugural West Coast Conference Tournament, running Friday, Nov. 17 through Sunday, Nov. 19, hosted by Pepperdine at the Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool in Malibu, Calif. The six-seeded Tigers (12-13, 1-5) are set to take on the three-seeded San Jose State Spartans (10-9, 4-2) in the First Round at noon on Friday.
 
Last week, Pacific dropped an 18-11 road contest to Pepperdine before a 21-13 setback at Loyola Marymount in the regular-season finale.
 
This week, in the opening round of the WCC tournament, the Tigers will face the #14 Spartans, who enter the competition on a high note, defeating California Baptist, 16-13, in their final game of conference play.
 
San Jose State has had an unusual WCC season, handing #1 seed Pepperdine their only conference loss of the season while being the only team to lose to #7 seed Air Force.
 
Since 2015, the Tigers hold a 12-1 record against the Spartans. San Jose State edged the Tigers, 9-7, at the Chris Kjeldsen Pool at the Douglass M. Eberhardt Aquatics Center in the most recent matchup this year. In that contest, graduate student Stefan Vavic tallied a hat trick on seven shots while fifth-year senior Rene Peralta added a goal and an assist.
 
The Spartans are led offensively by Mateja Bosic who has a team-best 33 goals, 19 assists, 52 points and 76 shots. A member of the 2023 WCC All-Conference Second Team, Bosic has been the go-to guy for sprints, owning a .400 sprint win percentage.
 
Bence Szabo trails his teammate Bosic by two goals with 31 markers on the year. Szabo was named to the WCC All-Conference First Team.
 
The Tigers have a formidable trio leading the offense this year in junior Gil Gvishi, Peralta and Vavic – all of which received All-WCC honors Wednesday. While Gvishi holds the team lead in goals with 54 goals on a team-best 149 shots, Vavic cruises to the top of the Pacific leaderboard with 84 points. Peralta has earned the most helpers with 35.
 
Gvishi's 2.2 goals-per-game ratio ranks fifth in the conference. Vavic's 3.4 points-per-game ratio places him in a tie for fifth in the conference. Vavic's 11 field blocks puts him in a tie for third on the conference leaderboard while his 1.5 steals-per-game ratio stands atop all WCC players this season.
 
Defending the cage, senior Lewis Gale and freshman Benjamin Gronbach have split the share of playing time for Pacific. Gale owns a 9-5 record with 99 saves while Gronbach has posted a 2-5 record with 55 saves. Gronbach has made an appearance in the last seven contests for the Tigers.
 
Pacific will face either #2 seed Loyola Marymount or #7 seed Air Force if the Tigers win Friday.
On Sunday, Nov. 19, the West Coast Conference will crown its first men's water polo champion. All the WCC tournament games will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
For tickets to the opening round of the WCC tournament, click here.