SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The No. 12 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team returns home to open Big West play this weekend, hosting No. 6 UC San Diego on Saturday. Both teams enter the weekend at their highest rankings of the season, with the Gauchos riding the extra boost of Brock Zamanian being named Big West Player of the Week.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Zamanian and the Gauchos come into the weekend in their best form of the season, contributing to their rise in the polls. After pulling off what was their best win of the season in their last home game, upsetting then-No. 10 Pacific in come-from-behind fashion, they bettered it last weekend, upsetting then-No. 6 San Jose State in San Jose, 13-12. They have now won three of their last four games with two top-10 upsets in that span.  
 
GAUCHOS TO KNOW
The redshirt senior Zamanian led the charge in both upset wins, with five goals against Pacific and five more against San Jose State, bringing his total on the year to 39, good for fourth in The Big West. The veteran attacker earned Big West Player of the Week honors for his work in upsetting the Spartans, boosted by his three-goal game at Santa Clara the day before.
While he has not been putting up the same gaudy single-game goal numbers as Zamanian recently, sophomore Danilo Dragovic's consistency has made him even more potent, tallying 48 goals on the season to lead the team and clock in at second in the conference. No team has kept Dragovic from scoring in nearly a month. Add in freshman phenom Charlie Johnson, scorer of 37 goals, and the Gauchos have a three-headed monster in attack. Sam McKenzie and his 36 goals make it four. Steady as ever, goalie Levi Lentin has anchored the Santa Barbara defense in the cage; he reached the 500 save mark in his career in the win over Pacific.
 
SCOUTING THE TRITONS
No. 6 UC San Diego is red hot too, winners of seven consecutive games. If there is good news for the Gauchos in that run, only one of the Tritons' seven straight wins came against a top 10 opponent, and only three of their foes were ranked at all. UC San Diego's best win of their last seven came against then-No. 12 LMU, a 14-9 rivalry game triumph. Eamon Hennessy scored twice in that win; he leads the Tritons and ranks six in the conference with 36 goals on the season. Christian Hammonds had a five-point haul that day with two goals and three assists; he leads the team in helpers and ranks second in the conference, with 29.
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
Saturday's game is part of UC Santa Barbara's Alumni, Family and Friends Weekend and will start at 10:30 a.m. from Dos Pueblos High School. Admission is free and open until the venue's capacity is reached. Fans can also catch all the action by watching live on ESPN+ or by following along with live stats.