In its lone match of the week, the 11th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team hosts No. 20 California Baptist Friday. The Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) game is slated for a 6 p.m. start at Canyonview Aquatic Center on campus.

The Tritons come in at 9-7 overall with a 2-1 record in the WWPA. The Lancers are 11-10 on the season and 1-1 in conference play.

Friday's game will be the first time the two teams have met since October 3, 2019. UC San Diego nipped CBU, 12-11. Kaden Likins scored three goals for the Tritons.

------

ATTENDING EVENTS AT UC SAN DIEGO
The following policies for events at UC San Diego went into effect on Sept. 6, 2021.

• Proof of vaccination or proof of negative COVID test for all fans 12 and older will be required for admittance to UC San Diego Athletics events.
• Athletics event management will verify vaccination status or testing status of all fans for entry to the facility.
• Those 12-years old and up can present proof of vaccination by either official CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card or official vaccination record QR Code (Medical records or CA.gov).
• Those without proof of vaccination (including those ages 6-11 who are not eligible for vaccination) can provide a negative COVID-19 test result from within 2 days of the event (PCR or Antigen).
• Those under 6 years of age but over 2 years of age will be required to wear a mask and be accompanied by an adult to ensure masking; those under 2 years of age do not have to wear a mask.
• Masks will be required for all when in the facility. Masks must fully cover one's nose and mouth. Masks will be available at the venue entrance.
• Food will not be allowed in stands/seating area, masks may be temporarily lifted for hydration in the stands/seating areas.

For more information, visit the UC San Diego Return to Learn Site.

Additional links:
UC San Diego Vaccine Mandate Overview | California Digital COVID Vaccine Record

------

THE SCHEDULE

Game 17 - WWPA match
No. 11 UC San Diego (9-7, 2-1 WWPA) vs. No. 18 California Baptist (11-10, 1-1 WWPA)
Friday, October 15 • 6 p.m.
Canyonview Aquatic Center • La Jolla, California
Watch Live • Live Stats • Tickets

------
 

GET TO KNOW THE TEAMS
Team	Nickname	Location	Conference	Roster	Schedule/Results	Statistics
UC San Diego	Tritons	La Jolla, California (map)	WWPA	Roster	Schedule/Results	Statistics
California Baptist	Lancers	Riverside, California	WWPA	Roster	Schedule/Results	Statistics

------

ALL-TIME AGAINST CALIFORNIA BAPTIST
Overall Series: UC San Diego leads 14-1
First Meeting: 9/29/00 (UC San Diego 17-7)
Last Meeting: 10/3/19 (UC San Diego 12-11 in Riverside)
Current Streak: UC San Diego 1 win
Last California Baptist Win: 10/5/18 (10-9 in La Jolla)

------
 
UC SAN DIEGO AND COVID-19
UC San Diego's nationally renowned Return to Learn program was created to return to in-person teaching, learning, conducting pioneering research and serving our communities in the safest way possible. The program has three adaptive pillars that are central to our strategy to resume on-campus activity: risk mitigation, viral detection, and intervention.

For the latest information on UC San Diego and COVID-19, please visit the University's Return to Learn site.

------

NET POSITIVE
Triton goalkeeper Alexander Nemeth has been in net in 14 of 16 games (seven complete games) this season and currently holds an 8-6 record. He's made 10 or more stops six times, including a season-high 14 against UC Davis on Sept. 25 at the Nor Cal MPSF Invitational.

------

LATKOVIC EARNS WWPA PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOD
On Wednesday, Sept. 29, Vedran Latkovic was tabbed the WWPA Player of the Week. He helped the ninth-ranked Tritons to a 3-2 record by scoring 12 goals to go along with three assists. Latkovic provided the highlight of the season thus far against No. 17 Loyola Marymount at home in front of over 900 fans. Tied 13-13, Karlo Krmek found him on the left side, about six meters from the net. With only 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Latkovic launched an off-speed lob just before the shot clock expired. The ball spun past several outstretched arms and a lunging LMU goalkeeper, finding a home in the bottom right corner of the net for the game-winner. It was his fifth goal and sixth point of the night. Against No. 11 San Jose State at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Invitational in Berkeley, Latkovic found the back of the net six times, the most goals by a Triton in a single game this season. Also at the tourney, he scored once against No. 13 UC Irvine and recorded two assists vs. No. 8 UC Davis.

------

GOAL POST
Through 16 games this season, UC San Diego has totaled 237 goals. That averages out to just under 15 goals per contest.

------

FIREPOWER
Through 16 games in 2021, the Tritons have scored over 20 goals three times, including a season-high 25 at Biola on Sept. 16. In 2019, they hit the 20 mark just once. In 2018, they did it three times. 

------

SCORING MACHINES
Calder Hilde-Jones and Vedran Latkovic are currently tied for the team lead in goals scored with 36 each. Hilde-Jones has netted at least one goal in all 16 matches, while Latkovic has scored in 14 of 16. Hilde-Jones has 12 multi-goal games and has scored at least twice in his last eight outings. Latkovic has 10 multiple-goal games.

------

POINT BREAK
On Sept. 16 at Biola, Miles Wilson lit up the box score by finishing with nine points. The redshirt freshman found the back of the net twice and helped seven others score by assisting on their goals. The nine points are a single game-high for any Triton this year.

------

START ME UP
UC San Diego got off to a strong start this season, compiling a 3-1 record while hosting the Triton Invitational. In fact, the Tritons won their first three games of the tourney after not engaging in any countable competition since Nov. 24 of 2019. They scored 63 goals over the four matches, an average of almost 16 goals per game. In just the first three contests, UC San Diego found the net 56 times, tallying 17 against Occidental, another 17 in an upset of Pepperdine, and 22 vs. Westcliff.  

Here are the results linked to the box scores.

• No. 9 UC San Diego 17, Occidental 4
• No. 9 UC San Diego 17, No. 5 Pepperdine 12
• No. 9 UC San Diego 22, Westcliff 6
• No. 8 Long Beach State 11, No. 9 UC San Diego 7

------

GAME DAY HAS A NEW LOOK
Triton fans now have a whole new way to access game day information as game programs have gone digital! Fans can visit https://bit.ly/MWPgameday from their smart phone or scan the QR code at the entrance to Canyonview Aquatic Center for everything they need to know about each home game, including updated rosters, schedules, and stats for each team, as well as watch links.

------
 
COVERING THE TRITONS
Media members wishing to cover a UC San Diego match in-person at Canyonview Aquatic Center this season must notify a member of the Athletics Communication staff no later than 24 hours before gameday. All media members will need to complete a UC San Diego symptom screening form on the day of the match prior to arriving on campus.

------

2021 CWPA NATIONAL POLL
10/13/21
previous poll ranking in parentheses
1. UCLA (2)
2. California (5)
3. USC (1)
4. Stanford (3)
5. Long Beach State (7)
6. UC Santa Barbara (4)
7. Pacific (6)
8. UC Davis (9)
9. Pepperdine (8)
10. San Jose State (10)
11. UC San Diego (11)
12. Princeton (13)
13. Harvard (14)
14. UC Irvine (12)
15. Loyola Marymount (15)
16. Fordham (T-17)
17. Pomona-Pitzer (16)
18. California Baptist (T-19)
T-19. St. Francis College Brooklyn (RV)
T-19. Air Force (T-17)
-
RV Santa Clara (T-19)
RV Bucknell (NR)
RV Navy (NR)
RV George Washington (NR)

------

UC SAN DIEGO IN THE 2021 CWPA NATIONAL POLL
Oct. 13: 11
Oct. 6: 11
Sept. 29: T-9 (Princeton, San Jose State)
Sept. 22: T-9 (Princeton)
Sept. 15: 9
Sept. 8: 8
Preseason: T-9 (UC Davis)

------
 
2021 WWPA PRESEASON COACHES POLL
T1. UC Davis (60 points, 5 first-place votes)
T1. UC San Diego (60 points, 4 first-place votes)
3. California Baptist (49)
4. Loyola Marymount (44)
5. Air Force (34)
6. Santa Clara (31)
7. Concordia Irvine (23)
8. Fresno Pacific (13)
9 Biola (10)

------

STRONG VETERANS RETURNING
UC San Diego has a core group of veterans returning in 2021. Calder Hilde-Jones and Kaden Likins, 2019 All-WWPA honorees, are back for their super senior and redshirt sophomore seasons, respectively. In addition, Karlo Krmek, Jack Ranj, Aram Nordanyan, and Alex Zamanian look to capitalize on their extra years of eligibility.

------ 

NEW FACES
The Tritons welcome eight rookies to the program including Nikita Valajev (Mill Valley/Tamalpais HS), Trevor Moore (La Mesa/Steele Canyon), Rhys Bugelli (Santa Barbara/La Jolla HS), Connor Stauffer (Mill Valley/Tamalpais HS), Matthew Wastila (Coronado/Coronado HS), Connor Macmitchell (San Carlos/Menlo School), Collin Tournat (Manhattan Beach/Mira Costa HS), and Brendon Fezzey (Riverside/John W. North HS).

------ 
 
MATT USTASZEWSKI AT THE 2020 OLYMPIC GAMES
Associate Head Coach Matt Ustaszewski served as the video coach for the U.S. Olympic Men's Water Polo Team at the most recent 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Ustaszewski also assisted in scouting reports and worked closely with the goalies, helping the Americans to a sixth-place finish at the tournament. For the full story, click here.

------

TREVOR MOORE NAMED TO USA MEN'S JUNIOR NATIONAL TEAM
Redshirt freshman Trevor Moore was selected to the USA Men's Junior National Team roster in late August. He is currently competing with Team USA in Prague, Czech Republic at the FINA Men's Junior World Championship.

Drawn into Group B, the Americans defeated Slovakia (12-7) and Czech Republic (18-2), but lost to Spain (20-10) and Serbia (15-0) to finish third in the group stage. Now, Moore and the U.S. are matching up for playoff contention with other second and third-place teams from the three other groups (A, C, D). For the full story, visit here. To follow along, click here.

------   
 
2019 SEASON RECAP
UC San Diego closed out the 2019 season as Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) regular season runners up. The Tritons also finished second at the WWPA Championship Tournament, falling to UC Davis in the final game, 5-14. Six scholar-athletes were named All-WWPA including redshirt senior Calder Hilde-Jones (Second Team) and redshirt sophomore Kaden Likins (All-Freshman Team).

------
 
HEAD COACH DENNY HARPER ENTERS SEASON 42
Denny Harper has sat the helm of the UC San Diego men's water polo program for the last 41 years. Throughout his Triton coaching career, Harper has amassed an overall record of 692-493-4 (.584). The water polo legend has earned 19 WWPA Coach of the Year accolades and 16 ACWPC Coach of the Year honors while guiding the Tritons to 19 WWPA Tournament Championships. For Harper's full bio, click here.

------

UC SAN DIEGO ATHLETICS LAUNCHES WEEKLY PODCAST
As part of UC San Diego's transition to Division I, the Athletics Department launched a weekly podcast, Tritoncast. Produced by UC San Diego Athletics Communications, Tritoncast features in-depth interviews with UC San Diego personalities including scholar-athletes, alums, coaches, and administrators. Triton fans will get an inside look at the UC San Diego Athletics Department as the program transitions to NCAA Division I and the Big West Conference. New episodes of Tritoncast are available each week on the most popular podcasting apps, including Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Audible, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, and Vurbl. In addition, each episode can be heard and downloaded on UCSDTritons.com. For individual show information and listen links, follow Tritoncast on Twitter @Tritoncast.

------
 
GET SOCIAL WITH UC SAN DIEGO MEN'S WATER POLO
Keep up with the Tritons all season long on social media through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The team's handle for Twitter and Instagram is @ucsdmwp. The handle for Facebook is @ucsdtritonsmwp.

------

FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UC San Diego home athletic events, and much more!

------

GEAR
For the latest Triton apparel and accessories, click here.

------

UP NEXT
On Saturday, October 23, UC San Diego plays Loyola Marymount for the third time this season. The 12 p.m. match at Canyonview Aquatic Center, which is during Homecoming week, will be the first time the Tritons and Lions have played a WWPA game against one another this year. The teams have split so far this season with UC San Diego taking a 14-13 win on September 22 in La Jolla and LMU returning the favor, 13-8, on September 25 at the MPSF Invitational in Berkeley. 

------
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.