STOCKTON, Calif. – The #17 Pacific men's water polo team (12-11, 1-3) heads out to Southern California for its final road trip of the regular season, taking on #6 Pepperdine (23-5, 4-1) Friday at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool and #12 Loyola Marymount (15-6, 3-1) Sunday at Burns Aquatic Center.
 
Last week, the Tigers earned their first West Coast Conference victory in program history, defeating Air Force, 14-12, on Senior Night at the Douglass M. Eberhardt Aquatics Center. With hat tricks from junior Ran Souva and graduate student Stefan Vavic, the duo carried the Tiger attack from the first period, controlled an early lead and never looked back.
 
This week, Pacific has a pair of tall tasks, preparing to face the top two teams in the West Coast Conference standings in Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. Both teams rank in the top 12 of the most recent national poll.
 
Pacific currently rides a six-game winning streak in the series against the Waves. The Tigers were crowned victors in the most recent matchup last year at home over Pepperdine by a score of 18-13. In the effort offensively, junior Gil Gvishi collected a goal and an assist. In 2021, the Tigers won the last road meeting against the Waves, earning a hard-fought 12-10 victory.
 
Graduate student Ryan Brosnan paces Pepperdine's offense with 35 assists and 86 points, which both rank in the top ten in the conference. His 51 goals are two shy of team leader Adam Csapo, who sits in a tie for fifth in the conference in goals. Graduate student Antonio Knez has started the bulk of the games in goal for the Waves, recording a 9.38 goals against average with 261 saves, which ranks first in the conference.
 
Against Loyola Marymount, Pacific currently owns a seven-game win streak in the series. The Tigers won the last clash with the Lions on the road on Sept. 27, 2019, with a 19-11 final score. Fifth-year senior Rene Peralta and senior Lewis Gale both played in that contest.
 
One Lion to keep an eye on this weekend is junior Tommaso Baldineti, who ranks second in the conference with 61 goals and 93 points. From his performances last week, Baldineti was named WCC Men's Player of the Week for the second time this season. Baldineti led Loyola Marymount to two road conference wins in Northern California, putting the Lions in contention for a share of the WCC regular season title. Baldineti led the team with eight goals and 13 points and tied for the team-high with five assists across the two games.
 
Junior goalkeeper Stelios Dalmaras leads Loyola Marymount with 201 saves, which places third in the conference. His .504 save percentage places second among WCC qualifiers.
 
The Tigers have a formidable trio leading the offense in Gvishi, Peralta and Vavic. While Gvishi holds the team lead in goals with 51 goals on a team-best 138 shots, Vavic cruises to the top of the Tigers' leaderboard with 74 points. Peralta has earned the most helpers with 31.
 
Gvishi's 2.2 goals-per-game ratio ranks fourth in the conference. Vavic's 3.2 points-per-game ratio places himself in a tie for fifth in the conference.
 
Although Gale has started the most games for Pacific this year, freshman goalkeeper Benjamin Gronbach has earned the starting nod in the last five games, posting a 2-4 overall record with a 10.98 goals against average with 43 saves.
 
WEEK SCHEDULE:

Friday, Nov. 10
2 p.m. – #17 Pacific at #6 Pepperdine – Malibu, Calif. – Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool

Sunday, Nov. 12
12 p.m. – #17 Pacific at #12 Loyola Marymount – Los Angeles – Burns Aquatic Center