No. 4 Cal Begins Postseason Play at the MPSF Tournament

Nov. 25, 2008

BERKELEY, CALIF. -

Fri,-Sun. Nov. 28-30 at MPSF Tournament, Raleigh Runnels Pool Malibu Calif. All Day

Bear Bites

The No. 5 seeded California men's water polo team (18-7, 4-4), the defending 2006 and 2007 national champions begin postseason play this weekend with in the MPSF Tournament. The Golden Bears face No. 4 seed UCLA (15-6, 5-3) on Friday, Nov. 28 at 3 p.m. at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool in Malibu. Last weekend Cal closed out the regular season by falling to No. 3 Stanford, 9-8, in Berkeley and by defeating Pacific, 10-7, in Stockton on Sunday.

About the MPSF Tournament

The 2008 MPSF Tournament features the top eight teams in the MPSF standings. Besides Cal's 3 p.m. match versus UCLA, other Friday matches include No. 1-seed USC (24-0, 8-0) versus No. 8-seed UC Irvine (10-13, 1-7) at 10 a.m., No. 2-seed Stanford (22-4, 6-2) versus No. 7-seed Long Beach State (14-15, 2-6) at 11:30 a.m. and No. 3-seed Pepperdine (19-6, 6-2) versus No. 6-seed UC Santa Barbara (15-10, 4-4) at 1:30 p.m. If the Bears win Friday, they would play the winner of USC and UC Irvine match at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29. If Cal wins Saturday, it would play in the MPSF championship match at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 30. Cal finished third in last year's MPSF Tournament when it fell to UC Irvine in a semifinal match and defeated Stanford, 12-9, to take third place. Cal won the 2006, 2002, 1995, 1993 and 1992 MPSF Tournaments, which is more titles more than any other MPSF team. Ticket information and complete bracket and results of the 2008 MPSF Tournament is available at http://www.pepperdinesports.com.

Cal Closes Out the Regular Season

Sophomore utility Brian Dudley scored off of a nice assist from senior captain Trent Calder with 53 seconds left in the match, but it was too little, too late as the No. 4-ranked Cal men's water polo team lost to No. 3 Stanford, 9-8. Stanford scored a key goal with 1:21 left in the match that gave the Cardinal a 9-7 advantage. Cal freshman standout Ivan Rackov had tied the match, 7-7, at the beginning of the fourth period when he nailed a long shot past the Cardinal goalie. The Big Splash was the final home match for Calder and fellow senior captain Frank Reynolds. Led by three goals from junior All-American Spencer Warden, Cal closed out the regular season with a, 10-7, victory over Pacific. A five-meter penalty shot by Reynolds put the Bears up 5-2, with 0:12 to play in the first half. The second half of play began with the Cal offense continuing its first half drive, as Luka Saponjic scored for the Bears to put them on top 6-2, early in the quarter. After trading goals, Calder scored with 0:31 remaining in the third quarter to give the Bear's an 8-4 lead heading into the final period. After Pacific scored two goals to cut the lead to 8-6, Cal answered to extend the lead to 10-6.

Cal Notes

Throughout the regular season, Cal's offensive attacked displayed remarkable balance as the Bears had seven players averaging nearly one goal a match - Warden 35 goals, Reynolds 32 goals, Calder 30 goals, Rackov 27 goals, Zach White 23 goals, Dudley 22 goals, and Saponjic 21 goals. Cal is only team in the MPSF with five players in the top 25 in goals per game average. Rackov leads Cal with 29 assists, White tops the squad with 28 ejections earned and senior Calder has a team-best 13 field blocks. The Bears outscored their opponents 281-168 and had 338 steals, 254 assists, 203 ejections earned and 65 field blocks. Reynolds was this season's (Sept. 8) first MPSF Co-Player of the Week after leading the team with 11 goals, and adding four assists, three steals, three ejections earned and two field blocks at the Navy Open on Sept. 6-7. Dudley was also named MPSF Co-Player of the Week (Nov. 17) after notching six goals in two matches, including the match winner in sudden death overtime versus the UC Irvine. This year's Cal squad is attempting to be the first men's water polo squad to win three straight NCAA titles since the 1990-92 teams accomplished the feat.

Head Coach Kirk Everist

Everist (158-47, .770, seventh year) led the Bears to a 28-4 mark and the program's 13th NCAA crown in 2007. In 2006, he also led Cal to the NCAA title, and in 2002 was MPSF Coach of the Year after the Bears made their first NCAA appearance since 1995. A 1990 Cal graduate, Everist led the Bears to NCAA titles in 1987 and 1988, earning All-America honors from 1986-88 and NCAA Player of the Year in 1988. He was on the USA National Team for nine years (1988-96), competing in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. Everist's staff includes associate head coach Boyd Lachance (seventh year), and (fourth year), a 2000 USA Olympian who was a three-time All-American at Cal, helping lead the Bears to the 1991 and 1992 NCAA titles.