No. 2 Cal Men's Water Polo Travels to No. 3 Stanford for Big Splash

Golden Bears (20-4, 6-1) to battle Cardinal (19-2, 6-1) for Steve Heaston Trophy.

Nov. 17, 2009

BERKELEY, CALIF. -

Sat. Nov. 21  at Stanford, Avery Aquatic Center  Stanford, Calif. 2 p.m.

Bear Bites: No. 2 Cal men's water polo (20-4, 6-1) has a huge MPSF league match this week as the Golden Bears travel to No. 3 Stanford (19-2, 6-1) for the Big Splash Saturday, Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. at Avery Aquatic Center. Cal, which owns an NCAA-record 13 national water polo titles and is currently on a nine-match winning streak, will be battling the Cardinal for seeding at the Nov. 27-29 MPSF Championship in Los Angeles. The winner of the Big Splash (Steve Heaston Trophy) will be the No. 2 seed entering the conference tournament. Of the Bears' four losses this season, three have come in the hands of defending NCAA champion USC (whom Cal upended in the 2006 and 2007 national title matches). 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 one of only two losses on the year, 10-8, in the Oct. 11 semifinals of the UCI Invitational. Stanford's other loss was 13-12 in overtime to USC this past Saturday in Los Angeles. Cal owns 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 24 matches, Cal is led by sophomore Ivan Rackov's 48 goals (fifth in the MPSF with 2.00 gpg), followed by Warden's 37 goals and 32 goals by White...other stat leaders include Rackov with 45 assists, Warden with 55 steals, White with 36 ejections earned and Sample with 13 field blocks...Cal is second in the MPSF behind Stanford (12.48) with 11.92 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 19 goals in 12 matches after returning from an injured left shoulder, helped Serbia to a bronze medal at the World University Games...Saponjic and Rackov were teammates on Serbia's Junior National Team...

Noting Stanford and the Big Splash: No. 3 Stanford (19-2, 6-1) is coached by John Vargas (eighth year) and led by senior Drac Wigo's 51 goals (first in MPSF 2.83 gpg). The winner of The Big Splash receives the Steve Heaston Trophy, named after the former Cal men's water polo coach (1989-98, three NCAA titles) who passed away in 1999. Cal and Stanford are the nation's two most successful programs, with the Bears winning 13 NCAA titles and the Cardinal 10. Cal has defeated Stanford three times in the national championship match, but last fell, 7-6, in the 2002 NCAA final. Stanford was the '08 national runner-up, losing to USC, 7-5.

Head Coach Kirk Everist: A 2004 Cal Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, Kirk Everist is in his eighth year (179-53, .771), 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.