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 |