DAVIS, Calif. -- Almost any athlete in almost any sport will invoke the language of kin when talking about his or her teammates. "We're like a family" or "I'm playing with my brothers/sisters" – the similes and metaphors are common to the point of being clichés. But for four members of the UC Davis men's water polo – namely Marcus and Keenan Anderson, and Riley and Stefan Venne – that feeling of family is literal.

Who: UC Davis at Concordia
When: Friday, October 5, 2018 • Noon
Where: Northwood High School (Irvine, Calif.)
Live Stats: TheFOSH.net (link not available yet)

Naturally, playing alongside an actual brother carries with it a bond that cannot be replicated. "I just feel like we have a better connection than anyone else on the team, both in and out of the pool," says Keenan Anderson, a redshirt sophomore utility. "We know each other's games so much better."

The classic sibling rivalry also propels each brother to be better than the other. If Keenan matches up with Marcus in practice, the team responds in a different way than if it were two other teammates. If Riley has a better workout than Stefan, the younger Venne knows he can expect an extra-sharp needle from assistant coach Trent Calder. Stefan admits that the thought of any comparison to Riley once encouraged him to finish a particularly tough preseason set.

"It's fun going into a swim set, knowing I'm going to beat him every single time," Riley said, eliciting a scoff from his younger brother. 

In turn, Stefan relishes the opportunity to take on his older brother in practice, despite Riley's significant size advantage. "I get fired up when I match up with Wally. I know we're about to get into it, especially if we're on 6-on-5s if we're next to each other on the post."

Marcus, a two-time All-Western Water Polo Association honoree, credits his parents for instilling such a competitive spirit in the Anderson brothers, one that has certainly contributed to the recent success of the program. 

"My dad is good at everything," Marcus says. "We'll play basketball with our younger brother, who is a senior now. We'll always push each other. I think it translates to other sports. We always want to be better than each other, which is nice."

Of course, Mark Anderson – the father of Marcus and Keenan – has coaxed high-level performances from many athletes over the years. Mark is a cofounder of Sleepy Hollow Aquatics (also known as SHAQ), for which both Anderson brothers and Venne brothers cut their water polo teeth. 

In fact, it is the Anderson patriarch who deserves much of the credit for Riley's nickname. Stefan began playing for SHAQ at the age of four – so young that a speech impediment caused him to mispronounce his older brother's name. "It would come out 'Wiley' or 'Waaah-lee,'" recalls Stefan. "Their dad, who was my coach at the time, picked up on it and started calling him Wally. If you know their dad, you know he has nicknames for everyone he coaches."

The nickname not only stuck, but subsequently followed the older Venne to UC Davis thanks in part to Spencer Galli, a SHAQ and Drake High teammate who was one year ahead of Riley in the Aggie program. "I knew I wouldn't lose that nickname when I came here because of Spencer," says Riley. "The second I got here as a freshman, he started calling me Wally in front of everyone else. It stuck even more."

"Even some teachers and professors, if they really know me, they call me Wally."

Both Keenan and Stefan also credit their brothers for the decision to attend UC Davis. In Keenan's case, he had played alongside Marcus and Riley at Drake High, giving him the confidence that he could flourish at the collegiate level. Stefan is four years younger than Riley, but regular visits to the program helped ingratiate himself to the team. "Everyone was super-nice and welcoming to me. It definitely played a part in my choosing to come to UC Davis."

Ultimately, the Andersons and Vennes share another trait with their Aggie brethren: a will to succeed. UC Davis entered the 2018 season ranked a program-record No. 7. Marcus and Riley are two members of a six-man senior class with a wealth of experience, while Keenan is part of a relatively experienced throng of sophomores and juniors. An 8-4 record and a No. 9 national ranking would be a proud accomplishment for any team, but the seniors share their coaches' desire for even more.

"As a team, we haven't even come close to our full potential yet," Marcus said. "We expected to be closer with Cal and to beat Harvard both times. I think it has taught us that we can't take anything lightly, and I think we're going to hit our stride soon."

"We know what we can do. We know our potential and we've seen it before," said Riley. "We see on film every day the things that are stopping us from reaching that potential. It's a matter of seeing those mistakes and making the physical changes in the water, both defensively and in other aspects of the game. It's just a matter of time before we figure it out. Once we do, and everything clicks, we're going to want to keep playing like that."

UC Davis continues WWPA play at Concordia on Friday for a noon road game. (Note: this contest was previously listed as 11:30 a.m.)

BROTHERS AND SISTERS: Siblings as teammates is a common occurrence in UC Davis athletics... There are currently three sets of twins competing for the Aggies in women's basketball (Karley and Kourtney Eaton), women's golf (Madison and Skyler Wood) and women's swimming & diving (Paige and Laura Lampron, who followed their older sis, Robin, to UC Davis)... The track & field/cross country teams recently had a set of triplets (Rianna, Olivia and Austin Goins)... Men's water polo also had sibling teammates in recent years with the MacCarthys (Anders and Evan) and the Driscolls (Danny and Kevin)... Furthermore, junior attacker Yurii Hanley is the twin brother of a current Aggie swimmer, Alexa... Senior utility Nick Coufal (Mark) and freshman goalkeeper Duncan Creed (Spencer) had older brothers who preceded them on the UC Davis men's water polo team... Ryan Hagens (Peter) and Chris Richardson (Matt) are other recent MWP players who followed their older brothers in the program... The Richardson brothers even rank No. 2 (Matt) and No. 4 (Chris), respectively, on the Aggies' career assists list.

Finally, numerous UC Davis men's water polo players have had either an older or younger sister on the women's counterpart, often at the same time: Jim Breen (Hannah), Walter Eggert (Carmen), Spencer Galli (Quinn), Brian Hodgens (Tiffany), Tom Jay (Beth), Trevor Long (Melissa), Greg Nelsen (Dana), Joseph Smith (Lisa), Michael Wright (Hailey)... Wright has the greatest multiple family connection to Aggie water polo: in addition to Hailey, his father (Jamey) is the Hall of Fame women's head coach, his mother (Nancy) was an All-American goalie in the 1980s, and his uncle (Doug) captained then later coached the men's team in the 1990s.
 

DON'T MISS OUT!
The ninth-annual UC Davis Athletics Brewfest takes place as part of the October 13 Homecoming football game against Idaho State... Tickets for the Brewfest plus the Aggies-Bengals game are now on sale at https://bit.ly/2ooveDI... The Brewfest celebrates UC Davis as the No. 1 academic brewing program in North America... The ticket package includes unlimited tastings at the UC Davis Brewfest, a commemorative tasting mug, and a ticket to the game.

ABOUT UC DAVIS: Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal, and among the top 10 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.

AGGIE EVO: Established in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.