STOCKTON, Calif. - The No. 6 Pacific men's water polo team will travel across the country to the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center on the campus of Brown University for the Bruno Classic to begin the season for a second-straight year.
On Tuesday, in a vote of the head coaches in the West Coast Conference, the Tigers were picked to take the inaugural crown. Pacific, who finished the 2022 season with an 22-7 record and advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Championships, earned 34 voter points and four of seven first-place votes. Just behind Pacific was Pepperdine, who received the other three first-place votes, earning 33 points for the second spot in the poll. Also on the 2023 WCC Men's Water Polo Preseason Team was a pair of Tigers'
Aleksa Šišakovic, who earned CWPCA Honorable Mention Academic All-American honors at St. Francis in 2022 and
Stefan Vavic, who will look to make an immediate impact as a graduate transfer from USC.
Šišakovic will be joined in the pool also by
Mihailo Vukazic, who was an honorable mention All-America selection by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches last season after scoring 67 goals to tie for the team lead in that category. He had three goals in the NCAA semifinal and was named as a first-team selection to the NCAA All-Tournament Team. He scored in 25 of the 28 games last season.
Several student-athletes that were key role players a year ago will be counted on this season, including fifth-year player
Rene Peralta, who tallied a career-best 18 goals and 17 assists a year ago.
All this firepower on the offensive side will be bolstered by the return of senior goalkeeper
Lewis Gale, who returns to the program to provide an experienced netminder. The Stockton native played three seasons for the Tigers and saw his most game action in the 2019 campaign.
The action for the Tigers at the Bruno Classic will feature a pair of teams receiving votes - Bucknell and host Brown. Both Bucknell and Brown also received votes in the final 2022 poll.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:
Saturday, Sept. 2
Noon (PST) / 3 p.m. (EST) - Pacific vs. Mount St. Mary's
4:30 p.m. (PST)/7:30 p.m. (EST) - Pacific vs. Mercyhurst
Sunday, Sept. 3
6 a.m. (PST)/9 a.m. (EST) - Iona vs. Pacific
11:30 a.m. (PST)/2:30 p.m. (EST) - Bucknell vs. Pacific
Monday, Sept. 4
8:30 a.m./11:30 a.m. (EST) - Brown vs. Pacific
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG:
LIVE VIDEO: https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/f8e60a32-ee42-4a57-8c8a-899316f75cc2
