No. 4 Cal Men's Water Polo Visits No. 16 Pacific for Non-Conference Tilt

Sept. 23, 2009

BERKELEY, CALIF. - Sat, Sept. 26 at Pacific, Chris Kjeldsen Pool Stockton, Calif. 12:00 p.m.

Bear Bites: The No. 4-ranked Cal men's water polo team (7-2) will travel to Stockton this Saturday, Sept. 26 for a noon non-conference match at No. 16 Pacific. The Golden Bears, who will play the Tigers in an MPSF match Nov. 14 at Spieker Aquatics Complex, are fresh off a fourth-place finish last weekend at the NorCal Invitational at Stanford. Cal defeated Santa Clara and UC Santa Barbara in day one, but fell in close matches to then-No. 2-ranked Stanford (8-7) and then-No. 1-ranked USC (8-6) in day two. Head coach Kirk Everist's troops feature several key returnees from last season, including senior captains Spencer Warden and Mike Sample, and juniors Brian Dudley and Zach White - all members of the Bears' 2007 NCAA championship team. Warden and Dudley notched scores during the 8-6 win over USC in the `07 final. Warden garnered second-team All-America honors last year after leading Cal with 40 goals and 68 steals, while Dudley was an honorable mention All-American after scoring 28 goals, including a match-winning shot in overtime at Long Beach State. The Bears also feature 6-2, 190-pound sophomore attacker Cory Nasoff, who earned this season's first MPSF Player of the Week accolade when he notched 11 goals in three Navy Open matches with seven assists, five steals and two ejections earned. Nasoff is currently tied for fourth in the MPSF with 2.38 goals per game. As a team, Cal is second in the MPSF with 14.0 goals per game.

Cal at the NorCal Invitational: In their toughest test of the season, the Bears were 2-2 at the NorCal Invitational, defeating No. 10 Santa Clara, 14-9, and No. 6 UC Santa Barbara, 12-8; before narrowly losing to host Stanford (who won the tournament) and defending national champion USC. In the scoring ranks, Cal was led by sophomore Ivan Rackov's eight goals, including a team-high three goals against both UC Santa Barbara and Stanford. Nasoff added six goals and Dudley notched five goals in his first action of the year since sustaining an injury to his left hand prior to the season-opener. The Bears also recieved strong goalie play from sophomore Wil Toppen, who had 33 saves over the weekend, including a career-high 15 saves versus UC Santa Barbara.

Additional Bear Notes: After nine matches, Cal is led by Rackov's 20 goals, followed by 19 goals from Nasoff, 17 goals by Zach White and 11 goals from redshirt freshman Spencer White (younger brother of Zach)...other stat leaders include sophomore Charlie Steffens with 23 assists, Warden with 17 steals, Zach White with 13 ejections earned and Sample with nine field blocks...besides a No. 4 preseason ranking, the Bears were tabbed third behind `08 NCAA champion USC and runner-up Stanford in the 2009 MPSF preseason coaches' poll...this summer, Sample was a member of the U.S. World University Games team, coached by Everist, that placed sixth in Belgrade, Serbia...sophomore Luka Saponjic helped his native Serbia to a bronze medal at the World University Games, scoring six goals during the tournament...Zach White won a silver medal in July at the Maccabiah Games in Israel.

Noting Pacific: No. 16-ranked Pacific (10-4) is coached by James Graham (first year) and is led by sophomore attacker Tom Koning (35 goals). The Tigers were 1-4 at last weekend's NorCal Invitational, losing to Pepperdine (10-4), UC Davis (11-8) and Air Force (9-8) before topping Pomona-Pitzer (11-10). Last season, Cal defeated Pacific, 16-4, at home and, 10-7, in an MPSF match in Stockton.

Head Coach Kirk Everist: A 2004 inductee into the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame, Kirk Everist is in his eighth year with a 166-51 mark (.765), leading the Bears to NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007, and MPSF crowns in 2002 and 2006. He was the 2006 NCAA Coach of the Year and 2002 MPSF Coach of the Year. A 1990 Cal graduate, Everist led the Bears to NCAA titles in 1987 and 1988, earning All-American status three straight seasons (1986-88) and NCAA Player of the Year honors in 1988. He played for the USA National Team for nine years (1988-96)and competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games.