DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis men's water polo finishes its 2025 home schedule this weekend with three games. The Aggies begin the weekend with a Senior Day Big West matchup against UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Nov. 1, at 10:00 a.m. PT before playing a doubleheader the next day against West Valley at 10:00 a.m. PT and UC Merced at 12:00 p.m. PT.

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN/FOLLOW
Nov. 1  — vs. #15 UC Santa Barbara | Live Stats | @ucdavismwp (X/Instagram)
Nov. 2  — vs. West Valley | Live Stats | @ucdavismwp (X/Instagram)
Nov. 2  — vs. UC Merced | Live Stats | @ucdavismwp (X/Instagram)

GAME NOTES

• Last Time Out: The Aggies are 11-10 on the season and a perfect 3-0 in conference play. On Saturday, they beat #10 UC San Diego in sudden-death overtime before defeating the #1-ranked NJCAA school, Golden West, on Sunday.
• Top Goal Scorers: In Sunday's matchup at Golden West, former Big West All-Freshman selection Thomas Kiesling scored five goals to extend his lead at the top of the Aggie scoring list with 53 goals, also putting him fourth in the Big West. Close behind him with 56 points is Oleg Shatskikh. Freshman Oriol Vinas acts as the top distributor for the team, dishing out 28 assists.
• Best in the (Big) West: With 186 saves, Baxter Chelsom has climbed to the top of the Big West leaderboard in his first season as primary goalkeeper for the Aggies, also ranking second in save percentage at .433. In Saturday's matchup against the Tritons, he willed his team to the win with a season-high 17 saves.
• 2024 Recap: UC Davis went 10-14 and finished their season with a Big West Semifinals defeat to UC San Diego.
• 2025 Poll: The Aggies were picked fourth in the Big West preseason coaches' poll, receiving 13 points.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS

• UC Santa Barbara is 15-12 on the season with a 1-2 record in Big West play, dropping a match against #11 Long Beach State last Saturday.
• The duo of sophomore Danilo Dragovic and redshirt senior Brock Zamanian have led the Santa Barbara attack this season, with 56 and 47 goals respectively. Dragovic's tally is good for second in The Big West, while Zamanian is close behind, ranking fifth. 
• The Aggies and Gauchos last played each other in October 2024, with UC Davis winning 10-9 down in Santa Barbara.
• West Valley is 22-3 on the season, playing a doubleheader at American River College on Friday before heading across the Causeway for Sunday's game.
• The Vikings are led by the offense of Ali Cinar Nuray, who's scored 65 goals in 23 games this season. Close behind him with 56 goals is Makar Salnikov.
• The Aggies are 2-0 all-time against West Valley, last winning at home 17-8 in September 2024.
• UC Merced is 4-15 on the season, competing in the Julian Frasier Memorial Tournament last weekend in Santa Clara.
• With 59 points in 2025, Andrew Jones is the leader on offense for the Bobcats, also racking up 17 steals on the season.
• UC Davis is 2-0 against UC Merced, last beating the Bobcats 22-3 in September 2024.

SEASON NOTES

• This season marks year 13 for UC Davis head man Daniel Leyson.
• Leyson's coaching staff features the return of assistants Nick Alden and Joey Frantz. Alden, a 4th-year coach out of Southern Oregon, works as the primary operations and recruiting coach. Frantz, who returns for his sixth season, acts as the goalkeepers' coach.
• The roster blends a strong returning core of players, including Thomas Kiesling, Andrew Hitchcock, Brody Crouch, William Fosselman, and Adam Ting.
• Additionally, the team has built a strong 2025 recruiting class, with 10 players coming out of places such as Spain, Croatia, and Canada. The new players include Mateo Ruano, Oriol Viñas, Luka Palavra, Jacob Carrera, Jaden Joemtree, Lyle Weitz, Max Prokhin, Oliver Wilmink, William McKeon, and Cassius Wolf.
• With UC Davis making the move to the West Coast Conference in 2026, this year marks its last in the Big West.