No. 2 Cal Men's Water Polo Visits No. 9 UC Santa Barbara and No. 8 Long Beach State

Golden Bears (16-4, 3-1) looking to continue winning streak in southern California.

Nov. 4, 2009

BERKELEY, CALIF. -

Sat. Nov. 7  at UC Santa Barbara, Campus Pool  Santa Barbara, Calif. 12 p.m.
Sun. Nov. 8  at Long Beach State, 49er Campus Pool  Long Beach, Calif. 12 p.m.

Bear Bites: No. 2 Cal men's water polo (16-4, 3-1) travels to southern California this weekend for a pair of noon MPSF matches, visiting No. 9 UC Santa Barbara (10-10, 0-3) Saturday, Nov. 7 and No. 8 Long Beach State (8-9, 1-4) Sunday, Nov. 8. The Golden Bears will be looking to extend their five-match winning streak against Gaucho and 49er squads coached by former Olympic teammates of Cal coach Kirk Everist. UCSB coach Wolf Wigo and LBSU coach Gavin Arroyo both competed with Everist at the 1996 Atlanta games where Team USA placed seventh on a squad coached by the Bears' current women's water polo coach Rich Corso. Arroyo was also a member of Cal's national championship squads of '90-'92. Of the Bears' four losses this season, three have come in the hands of defending NCAA champion USC. Cal's other loss was 8-7 to Stanford, Sept. 20 at the NorCal Invite at Stanford. However, the Bears have the distinction of handing the Cardinal their lone loss of the year, 10-8, in the semifinals of the UCI Invite Oct. 11. Cal has had three MPSF Player of the Week accolades this season - sophomore Cory Nasoff Sept. 8, junior center Zach White Oct. 12 and sophomore goalie Wil Toppen Oct. 19.

Cal Standouts: Everist's troops feature 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 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 were Toppen when he tallied nine saves in the Bears' 7-6 road victory at UCLA, and junior center White, who had four goals apiece in both the Loyola Marymount and Stanford wins, and had nine ejections earned in three of the four UCI Invitational matches.

Additional Bear Notes: After 20 matches, Cal is led by sophomore Ivan Rackov's 39 goals (fifth in the MPSF with 1.95 gpg), followed White's 29 goals and 28 goals by Warden...other Bear stat leaders include Rackov and sophomore Charlie Steffens with 35 assists, Warden with 45 steals, White with 35 ejections earned and Sample with 15 field blocks...as a team, Cal is second in the MPSF with 11.95 goals per game, and defensively fourth with 6.80 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 14 goals in 10 matches after returning from an injured left shoulder, helped Serbia to a bronze medal at the World University Games...

Noting UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State: No. 9 UC Santa Barbara (10-10, 0-3) is coached by Wigo (fifth year) and led by junior Milos Golic's 53 goals (second in MPSF with 2.65 gpg). Last season, Cal topped the Gauchos, 11-8, in an MPSF match at Cal. No. 8 Long Beach State (8-9, 1-4) is coached by Arroyo (third year, former Cal assistant under Everist, 2003-04) and led by junior Jeff Greenwood's 28 goals. Last year the Bears were 3-0 versus the 49ers, including winning, 13-9, in the seventh-place match of the 2008 MPSF Tournament.

Head Coach Kirk Everist: A 2004 Cal Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, Kirk Everist is in his eighth year (175-53, .767), 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.