DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis men's water polo begins play in the Big West on Friday, Oct. 10, when the team takes on UC Irvine at 6:00 p.m. PT. The team will then head to La Mirada on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 11:00 a.m. PT to play Biola University.

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN/FOLLOW
Oct. 10  — at #19 UC Irvine | Live Stats | @ucdavismwp (X/Instagram)
Oct. 11  — at Biola | Watch Live | Live Stats | @ucdavismwp (X/Instagram)

GAME NOTES

• Last Time Out: The Aggies are 6-9 on the season, dropping games against #6 San Jose State and #11 LMU in last Saturday's BW Invitational over in San Jose.
• Top Goal Scorers: Following a season-high seven goals in Saturday afternoon's matchup against Loyola Marymount, Thomas Kiesling has jumped to the top of the Aggies' scoring list with 34 goals and seven assists for a total of 41 points. Close behind him is Oleg Shatskikh, whose 27 goals and 13 assists give him 40 points.
• Best in the (Big) West: Playing all but 16 minutes in goal this season, Baxter Chelsom has produced a fantastic season in his first year as the primary goalkeeper. Among Big West goalies, he ranks second in both total saves (141) and save percentage (.429).
• 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 OPPONENT

• UC Irvine is 12-6 on the season, going 1-1 in the Gary Troyer Invitational last Friday, defeating Wagner before falling to Claremont-Mudd Scripps.
• The Anteaters are led on the offense by 30+ goal scorers Luka Krstic and Johann Thrall. Krstic's 17 assists give him 51 points on the year, ranking 10th in the conference.
• A career-high six goals from Wyley Dale against Wagner place him third in scoring for Irvine.
• The Aggies are 3-11 all-time against the Anteaters, last winning the matchup in 2022.
• Biola is 5-16 on the year, beating Concordia 10-9 in their conference opener on Wednesday.
• 54 points from Gavin McKenzie and Caleb Hernandez lead the Eagles on offense, with McKenzie having 36 goals and Hernandez grabbing 34.
• In goal, Joshua Dachenhausen leads with a .409 save percentage and 121 total saves on the season.
• UC Davis is 3-0 all-time against Biola, last beating the Eagles 16-8 in 2022.

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.