LOS ANGELES – Taking on a pair of top-15 opponents in a day, the fifth-ranked Pacific water polo program will travel the Burns Center to face the host and 15th-ranked LMU at 9 a.m. before playing a neutral match-up vs. No. 8 UC Irvine at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
 
The match against LMU, which will not count towards conference records, will be streamed on ESPN+. The match against UC Irvine will not be streamed, but live stats will be available, and the contest is part of the 2024 WCC – Big West Challenge.
 
The Tigers (6-0) moved up two spots in the national Collegiate Water Polo Association rankings. It came after a 4-0 weekend with victories over George Washington, Wagner, No. 17 Navy and No. 6 Princeton. Pacific also has wins over No. 19 Brown and No. 14 Harvard this season.
 
Senior Mihailo Vukazic is the reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Week winner. He netted 13 goals over the four games last weekend including a huge seven-goal performance against Wagner. Vukazic leads the Tigers with 19 goals on the season.
 
Vukazic is one of two student-athletes to score a goal in every game this year along with graduate Matthew Hosmer who has tallied 15 on the year. Graduate Oliver Fodor is also in double-figures with 12 goals on the season.
 
LMU (3-1) is looking to shake-off a tight 15-12 defeat to No. 4 Pepperdine in its last outing. The Lions have wins over La Verne, Chapman and Concordia-Irvine. The Tigers are 11-6 all-time against LMU.
 
UC Irvine (2-4) has a misleading record with narrow losses to UCLA, USC and Cal. The Anteaters have wins over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Concordia-Irvine.
 
Pacific will play its home opener Sunday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m. against Long Beach State at the Eberhardt Aquatics Center.
 
Stay Social
For all the latest on Pacific men's water polo, be sure to follow the team on X (@UOPWaterPoloU), Instagram (@pacificwaterpolo) and "like" the team's official Facebook page (Pacific Men's Water Polo).
 
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