Posted: Nov 17, 2021

WWPA Digest: All-WWPA Teams Announced | Tournament Preview

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) is pleased to announce its 2021 All-Conference teams ahead of this weekend's conference championship. The honorees were decided by a vote of conference coaches.

UC Davis senior Nir Gross was voted Player of the Year after a standout season. A 2019 All-American and two-time WWPA First Teamer, Gross scored 47 goals and drew a team-high 62 exclusions for top-seeded UCD.

The WWPA's leading goalscorer, Bodhi Bowden of Fresno Pacific, ran away with Freshman of the Year honors after setting a new school record with 98 goals in his first season.

UC San Diego had a conference-high five players named all-conference, including First Team senior Calder Hilde-Jones. Loyola Marymount had the most First Teamers, with Robert Halligan, David Carrasco and Blazo Mitrovic earning top honors.

CBU, UCD and LMU had four players named all-conference across all categories.

2021 WWPA Championship

Friday, November 19 - Saturday, November 21
Davis, Calif. | Schaal Aquatics Center

WWPA Tournament Central | UC Davis Tournament Central

The 2021 Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Men's Championship features one of the most competitively balanced fields in recent years when the conference's nine teams meet in Northern California this week.

The final shot of the conference season - a sudden victory goal from Concordia - settled a crowded field that saw four one-goal games on the final day of conference play.

Top-seed UC Davis, the conference preseason favorite, was tripped up by a red-hot UC San Diego, which snuck into the No. 2-seed with three straight wins to end the year.

UCSD, California Baptist, and Loyola Marymount all finished 6-2. LMU snatched a 10-7 road win over UCSD before CBU returned the favor to the Lions with a 19-17 road win. The Lancers are the defending WWPA champions.

Air Force led the conference in wins (17) and spent much of the year in first place. The Falcons have a win against UCSD in their pockets.

An automatic berth to the National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championship is on the line. Semifinals are set for Saturday morning, 9:30am and 11am. The title game is Sunday morning at 11am.

Losers on the first day move to the Consolation Bracket. Game times Saturday are 8am, 12:30pm and 2pm.

WWPA Championship Quarterfinals | Friday, Nov. 19

Game 1 (8am): #9 Biola vs #8 Fresno Pacific | Watch | Live Stats
Previous Meeting: Fresno Pacific 16 - Biola 6, Sept. 25

#9 Biola (2-20, 0-8 WWPA)
The Eagles make their WWPA Championship debut … Beat Westcliff and Ottawa (Ariz.) … Nolan Rupp's 41 steals are second-best in WWPA … WWPA All-Freshman Mitchell Carpenter is second with 9.9 saves per game … Kenny Wulf named Honorable Mention after a 46-point (35g, 11a) season.

#8 Fresno Pacific (2-6, 6-21 WWPA)
FPU fell to No. 8-seed on a last second goal from Concordia in the conference finale … Defeated Santa Clara on Oct. 6 … Freshman of the Year Bodhi Bowden led conference with 110 points and 98 goals … Second in total goals in conference play (26) … Clay Maroney's 241 steals were second-best.

Game 2 (9:30am): #7 Concordia vs #2 UC San Diego | Watch | Live Stats

Previous Meeting: UC San Diego 19 - Concordia 4, Sept. 9

#7 Concordia (8-15, 2-6 WWPA)
Beat Fresno Pacific, 13-12, in sudden victory to edge the Sunbirds for the No. 7-seed … Honorable Mention Jeff Runyan's 76 goals were fourth-best in the conference … Hunter Osgood's 141 saves are sixth-most … All-Freshman Jacob Stuart scored 24 goals and added a team-high 17 assists.

#2 UC San Diego (13-8, 6-2 WWPA)
Edged top-seed UC Davis by a goal in the conference finale to take the No. 2-seed via tiebreaker … Needed two wins on the final weekend to get No. 2-seed … Upset No. 5 Pepperdine, 17-12, on Sept. 4 … Won three straight and four of its last five … First Team Calder Hilde-Jones finished top-10 with 50 goals … Second Team Alexander Nemeth led conference with .494 save percentage … 1-1 vs UC Davis this season.

Game 3 (11am): #6 Santa Clara vs #3 California Baptist | Watch | Live Stats

Previous Meeting: California Baptist 11 - Santa Clara 10, Oct. 30

#6 Santa Clara (12-15, 2-6 WWPA)
Secured No. 6-seed via goal-difference tiebreaker … Edged by Air Force and CBU in conference matches by a single goal … Beat No. 18 Brown and No. 20 Fordham … Fell by a goal to No. 12 Princeton and No. 13 Harvard … Jake Taylor's 31 assists are ninth-best in WWPA … Second Team Cody Ferguson scored a team-high 36 goals and 33 drawn exclusions … All-Freshman Zach Fales led team with 53 points (35g, 18a).

#3 California Baptist (18-13, 6-2 WWPA)
Defending conference champion … 19-17 road win over Loyola Marymount made the difference in tiebreaker for No. 3-seed … Lancers have won four straight … Beat No. 16 Fordham … First Team Zach Lowery led WWPA with 62 assists and was fourth with 100 points (46g, 62a) … Second Team PJ McDonough (62 goals) and Honorable Mention Hunter Barnett (58 goals) ranked fifth and sixth in the conference.

Game 4 (12:30pm): #5 Air Force vs #4 Loyola Marymount | Watch | Live Stats
Previous Meeting: Loyola Marymount 16 - Air Force 12, Oct. 9

#5 Air Force (17-7, 5-3 WWPA)

Won 11 of first 12 matches of season … Beat No. 9 UC San Diego on Oct. 1 … Fell to CBU by a goal in the regular season finale to move down to No. 5 seed … First Team Grant Sydner was second in conference in goals (81) and points (105) … Ian Christie ranked second in assists (45) … 17 wins are third-most of any team in the nation, trailing only Cal and Long Beach State.

#4 Loyola Marymount (10-13, 6-2 WWPA)
Win over Air Force on. Oct. 9 gave them tiebreaker advantage over the Falcons in earning No. 4-seed … Beat UC San Diego 10-7 on the road … Beat No. 9 San Jose State on Oct. 3 … First Team Blazo Mitrovic's 81 goals ranked second in WWPA … First Team Robert Halligan led the conference with 10.6 saves per game … First Team David Carrasco's 22 assists were most in conference play … The Lions hold a 37-29 advantage in series between the teams.

Game 5 (2pm): Winner Game 1 (BU or FPU) vs #1 UC Davis | Watch | Live Stats

#1 UC Davis (15-8, 7-1 WWPA)
Clinched WWPA title on Nov. 4 with win over Loyola Marymount … Fell to UC San Diego, 11-10, in season finale … Won three of last five WWPA titles … Beat No. 7 Pacific on Sept. 17 … Nir Gross' 19 goals were eighth-most in conference play … WWPA preseason favorite … Aleix Aznar Beltran had 51 goals, ninth-most in conference.

WWPA in the Top 20 (Nov. 17, 2021)
10. UC San Diego (-1)

11. UC Davis (-)
15. Loyola Marymount (-)
16. California Baptist (+1)
RV. Air Force (-2)
RV. Santa Clara (-)

2021-22 WWPA Players of the Week:
Aug. 30-Sept. 5: Aleix Aznar Beltran, UC Davis
Sept. 6-Sept. 12: Sam Fuller, Air Force
Sept. 13-Sept. 19: Nir Gross, UC Davis

Sept. 20-Sept. 26: Vedran Latkovic, UC San Diego
Sept. 27-Oct. 3: Tristan Felberg, California Baptist

Oct. 4-Oct. 10: David Carrasco, Loyola Marymount

Oct. 11-Oct. 17: Grant Snyder, Air Force
Oct. 18-Oct. 24: Robert Halligan, Loyola Marymount
Oct. 25-Oct. 31: Zach Lowery, California Baptist
Nov. 1-Nov. 7: Karlo Krmek, UC San Diego