Men's Water Polo Hosts #8-Pepperdine In Conference ShowdownMen's Water Polo Hosts #8-Pepperdine In Conference Showdown

Men's Water Polo Hosts #8-Pepperdine In Conference Showdown

Oct. 26, 2016

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The San José State men's water polo team looks to keep their good run going this Friday night, October 28 against #8-ranked Pepperdine in a Golden Coast Conference match at West Valley College.

"Pepperdine will be tough," said SJSU head coach Bruce Watson. "They're a good team but we have been able to hang with good teams this season. It will be a good learning experience for the guys."

The Spartans (7-14, 0-2) come into the match against the Waves (10-9, 0-2) playing their best water polo of the season, winning five out of the last eight matches. The three matches they lost during the streak were to top-20 ranked teams and the Spartans kept each of those opponents to ten goals or less.

The Spartans played in the Rodeo Tournament last weekend and were led by freshmen Marc Weber, who scored 11 goals over five games, and Finn Pardon, eight goals in five games, on the offensive end. Pardon, a native of Manhattan Beach, Calif., leads the Spartans on the year with 27 goals. Weber, of Fuida, Germany, has 22 goals this season. Junior Davor Koret, of Zagreb, Croatia, leads the Spartans with 14 assists.

The Spartans' defense, which allowed double digit goals from opponents in their first 11 of 13 games, has kept opponents to ten goals or less in the last seven out of eight games.

"Our defense is playing really well," Watson said last weekend. "Alek Dendall is working really hard, Ben Hauschild has stepped up, Conrad (Gordon) is playing well and TJ Palmer has been outstanding."

Freshman sparkplug Ben Hauschild leads the Spartan defense with 26 steals. Fellow freshman, goalie TJ Palmer, notched his 100th save of the season over the weekend and leads the Spartans with 111 saves.

The match on Friday is set for 7 p.m. at West Valley College in Saratoga, Calif.

San José State vs. #8-Pepperdine

Golden Coast Conference Match
West Valley College, Saratoga, Calif. - 7 p.m.
Admission is free


Collegiate Water Polo Association national weekly coaches poll

October 26, 2016 (Week 8)

Rank

Team

Week 7 Poll

1

University of California-Los Angeles

1

2

University of California

2

3

University of Southern California

3

4

University of the Pacific

4

5

University of California-Santa Barbara

7

6 (T)

Stanford University

5

6 (T)

Long Beach State University

6

8 (T)

University of California-Davis

9

8 (T)

Pepperdine University

8

10

Brown University

10 (T)

11

Princeton University

13

12

Bucknell University

10 (T)

13

Harvard University

10 (T)

14

California Baptist University

17

15

University of California-San Diego

15

16

Pomona-Pitzer Colleges

16

17

George Washington University

14

18 (T)

University of California-Irvine

19

18 (T)

St. Francis College Brooklyn

18

20

Loyola Marymount University

20 (T)

RV

San José State University

RV

RV

University of Redlands

RV

RV

Santa Clara University

20 (T)

RV

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges

RV