No. 4 Cal Men's Water Polo Travels to UCI Invitational

Oct. 6, 2009

BERKELEY, CALIF. -

Sat,-Sun. Oct. 10-11 at UCI Invitational, Anteater Pool Irvine, Calif.             All Day

Bear Bites:

The No. 4-ranked Cal men's water polo team (8-3, 0-1) will be competing in its second major tournament of the season when the Golden Bears travel to the UCI Invitational (SoCal Invitational) in Irvine. Cal is the fourth-seeded team in a tournament that features the Top 10 teams in the nation and five other squads ranked in the Top 20. The Bears kick-off the competition versus No. 16-ranked Pacific, Saturday, Oct. 10 at 10:40 a.m. Cal had placed fourth at the NorCal Invitational, Sept. 19-20 at Stanford - defeating Santa Clara and UC Santa Barbara before falling to No. 1-ranked Stanford (8-7) and No. 3 USC (8-6). The Bears only other loss this season came last Saturday when USC topped Cal, 8-6, in an MPSF match at Spieker Aquatics Complex. On Sept. 26 in Stockton, the Bears defeated Pacific, 11-7, in a non-conference match.

About the UCI Invitational:

The UCI Invitational features 16 teams, 15 which were ranked in last week's Collegiate Top 20 poll. Bracket A consists of No. 1 Stanford, No. 8 Pepperdine, No. 9 UC Irvine and No. 19 Princeton. Bracket B includes No. 2 UCLA, No. 7 Long Beach State, No. 10 Navy and Redlands. Bracket C has No. 3 USC, No. 6 UC Santa Barbara, No. 12 UC Davis and No. 18 Bucknell. Bracket D features No. 4 Cal, No. 5 Loyola Marymount, No. 13 UC San Diego and No. 16 Pacific. On Oct. 10, Cal plays Pacific at 10:40 a.m., and if the Bears prevail, they would play the winner of UC San Diego-Loyola Marymount at 5:20 p.m. at Anteater Pool. If Cal wins both of its matches Saturday, it would play at 10:40 a.m. versus the winner of the Bracket A (Stanford, Pepperdine, UC Irvine, Princeton). If Cal wins that match, it will play in the tournament championship at 5:20 p.m. Last season at the SoCal Invitational in Malibu, Cal fell to USC, 12-7, in the semifinals, but rebounded to defeat UCLA, 12-11 in overtime, in the third-place match.

Cal Standouts:

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, a three-time All-American, 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 sixth in the MPSF with 2.10 goals per game. As a team, Cal is second in the MPSF with 13.0 goals per game.

Additional Bear Notes:

After 11 matches, Cal is led by sophomore Ivan Rackov's 23 goals, followed by 21 goals from Nasoff, 17 goals by Zach White and 14 goals from Warden...other leaders include sophomore Charlie Steffens with 25 assists, Rackov with 22 steals, Nasoff and Z. White with 16 ejections earned and Sample with nine field blocks...sophomore Wil Toppen has established himself as the Bears' starting goalie after notching 33 saves during the NorCal Invitational, including a career-high 15 saves versus UC Santa Barbara...Warden was impressive in the last match versus USC, leading the team with three goals and three steals, including a last second shot from the length of the pool to end the third period.

Head Coach Kirk Everist:

A 2004 inductee into the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame, Kirk Everist is in his eighth year with a 167-52 mark (.763), leading the Bears to NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007, and MPSF crowns in 2002 and 2006. Everist was the 2006 NCAA Coach of the Year and 2002 MPSF Coach of the Year. A 1990 Cal graduate, he 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. Everist played for the USA National Team for nine years (1988-96)and competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games.