MALIBU, Calif. — The No. 13 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team is set for the first of two Big West-WCC Challenge events this weekend, but before they get there, the Gauchos will play something of an opener for the weekend in Malibu on Thursday, taking on Westcliff and No. 4 Pepperdine. Santa Barbara then heads into Los Angeles for the Big West-WCC Challenge, where they will face Cal State Fullerton on Friday, then Pepperdine and No. 15 Loyola Marymount on Saturday.
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
The Gauchos will begin their three days of water polo at the Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool in Malibu, taking on Westcliff at 2:30 p.m. and Pepperdine at 5 p.m. Thursday. The match against the Waves will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and both matches will have live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com. Thursday's match against Westcliff will be live streamed through Pepperdine's website, pepperdinewaves.com.
 
Santa Barbara's lone match on Friday, against the Titans, will get underway at 3 p.m. from LMU's Burns Center in Los Angeles. The Gauchos will then face Pepperdine at 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning and LMU at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Admission at the Burns Center will be free all weekend, and all three matches will have live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com. Only the Gauchos' match against LMU on Saturday afternoon will be broadcast, through ESPN+.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos are no strangers to full weeks, having played five games in four days last week. Santa Barbara fell in a tough match on the road at No. 2 Stanford last Thursday but bounced back with four wins over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, La Verne, Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer at the Inland Empire Classic last weekend. Adam Gyenis and Brock Zamanian both posted 10-goal weeks, while Luke Bachler was Santa Barbara's top scorer in the game at Stanford with a hat-trick.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Westcliff (0-5) may be without a win so far this season, but the NAIA program has been up against nothing but NCAA Division-I powerhouses to this point, with their five losses coming against No. 10 Long Beach State (twice), No. 4 Pepperdine, then-No. 8 UC Davis and No. 3 USC. The Warriors faced the Gauchos twice last season, with Santa Barbara winning this exact fixture in Malibu, 15-4, only a week after scoring a school record 34 goals against them in a 34-2 victory.
 
No. 4 Pepperdine (5-1) rocketed into the top five last week after upsetting then-No. 2 California on opening weekend, and they hold steady at No. 4 after going 1-1 last weekend, defeating LMU by three but falling to No. 3 USC by nine. Sophomore utility Jon Carcarey scored six goals in the 21-20 overtime win against the Golden Bears and four more against the Lions, he is tied with fifth-year Wave Christian Hosea (who scored a hat-trick in both matches) for the team's goal lead. Junior attacker Adam Csapo is just behind them with 14; he was named to the West Coast Conference Preseason Team.
 
Cal State Fullerton (4-4) comes into the week after hosting their Titan Invitational, where they went 3-1 to level their record out after going 1-3 on opening weekend. However, the Titans' one loss of last weekend was to Air Force, and they are still without a win over Division-I opposition this season after losses to No. 3 USC, then-No. 2 California and No. 4 Pepperdine on opening weekend. Togan Ozbek, an All-America Honorable Mention in 2023, leads the team with 14 goals, six assists and 20 points; only one other Titan has double-digit goals so far this season. When Fullerton came to Santa Barbara last season, Adam Gyenis put four goals past the Titans in a 13-8 Gaucho victory.
 
No. 15 LMU (3-1) has played the least water polo of the Gauchos' opponents, with just four games under their belts and only one of them against a Division I team. That one contest was a 15-12 defeat at Pepperdine, though All-American attacker Tommaso Baldineti showed his talent by scoring six of the Lions' goals on the day. At the other end of the pool, All-American goalkeeper Stelios Dalmaras allowed eight goals while making just two saves against the Waves. When the Gauchos and Lions met last season, Santa Barbara's Gyenis fired eight goals past Dalmaras himself.
 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos' next action after the Big West-WCC Challenge is in Los Angeles again, as they will visit No. 1 UCLA on Friday, Sept. 27.