No. 2 Cal Men's Water Polo Hosts No. 5 Pepperdine in MPSF Match-Up

Oct. 21, 2009

BERKELEY, CALIF. -

Sat. Oct. 24  Pepperdine, Spieker Aquatics Complex Berkeley, Calif. 11 a.m.

Bear Bites: The No. 2-ranked California men's water polo team (13-4, 1-1), winners of five of its last six matches, continues its MPSF slate with a 11 a.m. contest versus No. 5 Pepperdine (7-8, 1-2) on Saturday, Oct. 24 at Spieker Aquatics Complex. Last week, the Golden Bears won a key 7-6 MPSF match at No. 4 UCLA before upending No. 16 Santa Clara, 13-9, at Spieker Aquatics Complex. Cal had finished 3-1 the week before at the UCI Invitational with victories over Pacific (14-6), Loyola Marymount (9-8) and previously unbeaten and top-ranked Stanford (10-8), before falling to USC, 7-6, in the title match. Three of the Bears' four losses this season have come in he hands of the defending national champion Trojans. Against UCLA, Cal was led by sophomore attacker Ivan Rackov's three goals and sophomore goalie Wil Toppen, who earned the Oct. 19 MPSF Co-Player of the Week honor after talling nine saves and two steals versus the Bruins. It was the Bears' third MPSF Player of the Week accolade this season.

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 sophomore attacker Cory Nasoff, who earned this season's first MPSF Player of the Week honor when he notched 11 goals in three Navy Open matches. Cal's other MPSF Players of the Week this season are Toppen and junior center White, who was the Oct. 12 honoree after talling four goals apiece in both the LMU and Stanford wins, and had nine ejections earned in three UCI Invitational matches.

Additional Bear Notes: After 17 matches, Cal is led by Rackov's 36 goals (fifth in the MPSF with 2.12 gpg), followed White's 27 goals and 22 goals by Nasoff and Warden...other Bear stat leaders include sophomore Charlie Steffens with 32 assists, Warden with 39 steals, White with 30 ejections earned and Sample with 11 field blocks...besides leading the Bears in goals, Rackov is among the team's leaders with 28 assists, 26 steals, seven ejections earned and five field blocks...as a team, Cal is third in the MPSF with 11.88 goals per game, and defensively fourth with 6.76 goals per game...this past 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, who has scored 10 goals in the last seven matches after returning from an injured left shoulder, helped his native Serbia to a bronze medal at the World University Games with six goals during the tournament...

Noting Pepperdine: No. 5 Pepperdine (7-8, 1-2) is coached by Jack Kocur (fourth year) and led by senior JP MacDonell's 30 goals (second in MPSF with 2.31 gpg). The Waves last lost to Stanford, 13-5, in an Oct. 18 MPSF match at Stanford. Pepperdine had placed fifth at the UCI Invitational, defeating Long Beach State, 12-11 in overtime, in the fifth-place match. Last season, Cal was 1-1 versus the Waves, falling, 7-5, in an MPSF match in Malibu, and winning, 8-6 in overtime, in the second round of the 2008 SoCal Invitational.

Head Coach Kirk Everist: A 2004 Cal Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, Kirk Everist is in his eighth year (172-53, .764), 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), competing in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games.