DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis men's water polo continues its season from Friday, Sept. 19, to Sunday, Sept. 21, at the Overnght Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Invitational. The Aggies open the tournament against Pepperdine on Friday at 1:30 p.m. PT.

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN/FOLLOW
Sept. 19  — vs. #12 Pepperdine | Watch Live | Live Stats | @ucdavismwp (X/Instagram)

GAME NOTES

• Last Time Out: The Aggies are 3-4 on the season, dropping a shootout against the No. 3-ranked California Golden Bears 13-16 last Saturday.
• Top Goal Scorers: Coming off a three-point performance last Saturday, Thomas Kiesling leads the team in both goals (13) and total points (18). After a four-goal performance in the fourth quarter against Cal, Oleg Shatskikh quickly rose to second on the team with nine goals in 2025.
• 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

• Pepperdine sits at 5-3 on the year, dropping a road match against No. 1 UCLA last Saturday.
• The Waves are led by Dane Howell, whose 20 goals and five assists give him a team-leading 25 points early in the season.
• The Aggies and Waves last played each other earlier this season, with UC Davis getting the 14-10 win to wrap up the Triton Invitational.
• Following Friday's match, Davis will play either the winner or loser of UCLA vs. Redlands on Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. PT. The team is guaranteed to play at least two matches on Saturday and one on Sunday to determine their place in the 16 team tournament.

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.