LA JOLLA, Calif. - The ninth-ranked University of California San Diego men's water polo team is poised to play its third- and fourth-consecutive road matches this week. Thursday, the Tritons travel to La Mirada for a Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) contest and then head up the coast to face No. 5 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.

UC San Diego is coming off a 2-1 week with wins against WWPA opponent Concordia at home and Whittier at the Inland Empire Classic, plus a loss against No. 1 UCLA, also at the IE Classic.

Biola is in its first year competing in men's water polo. In fact, the Eagles opened their inaugural campaign at Canyonview Aquatic Center in La Jolla as they competed at the Triton Invitational. BU is currently 1-4, going 0-4 at UC San Diego's tourney and then earning the program's first-ever victory, 12-8, against Westcliff at home on Sept. 15.

UC Santa Barbara is currently 8-1 overall with matches against Westcliff and No. 10 Pepperdine to be played before the Tritons come to town Saturday. The Gauchos' lone loss came against top-ranked UCLA at the Triton Invitational. 

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THE SCHEDULE
Game 8 - WWPA Match
No. 9 UC San Diego (5-2, 1-0 WWPA) at Biola (0-4, 0-0 WWPA)
Thursday, Sept. 16 • 1 p.m.
Splash Aquatic Center • La Mirada, Calif.
Watch Live • Live Stats

Game 9
No. 9 UC San Diego (5-2, 1-0 WWPA) at No. 5 UC Santa Barbara (8-1, 0-0 GCC)
Saturday, Sept. 18 • 12 p.m.
Campus Pool • Santa Barbara, Calif.
Watch Live • Live Stats

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THE MORE YOU KNOW!
Team	Nickname	Location	Conference	Roster	Schedule/Results	Statistics
UC San Diego	Tritons	La Jolla, Calif.	WWPA	Roster	Schedule/Results	Statistics
Biola	Eagles	La Mirada, Calif.	WWPA	Roster	Schedule/Results	Statistics
UC Santa Barbara	Gauchos	Santa Barbara, Calif.	GCC	Roster	Schedule/Results	NA

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ALL-TIME AGAINST THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS
UC San Diego vs. Biola: Have never met
UC San Diego vs. UC Santa Barbara: 21-34

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ATTENDING OUTDOOR EVENTS AT UC SAN DIEGO
The following policies for outdoor 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

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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.

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MANUEL TRANSMISSION
Manuel Augusto led UC San Diego in point production over three matches last week, totaling 10 points on six goals and four assists. He had at least one goal in all three contests. The junior from Portugal was on fire in a win over Concordia in the Tritons' first WWPA match of the season as he netted four goals and assisted on another four. He also scored single goals against No. 1 UCLA and Whittier.

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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

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4+9=18
Tritons Vedran Latkovic (No. 4) and Calder Hilde-Jones (No. 9) each scored nine goals during the Triton Invite. They combined for 18 of UC San Diego's 63 goals, just under 30 percent of the team's total. Latkovic added five assists and four steals, while Hilde-Jones tacked on 10 drawn exclusions and a pair of steals. Latkovic fired 23 shots, nine more than his closest teammate, which happened to be Hilde-Jones with 14.

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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.

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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.

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BEHIND THE SCENES AT MEDIA DAY


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2021 CWPA NATIONAL POLL
9/15/21
previous poll ranking in parentheses
T1. UCLA (1)
T1. Southern California (2)
3. Stanford (T3)
4. California (T3)
5. UC Santa Barbara (5)
6. Long Beach State (6)
7. University of the Pacific (7)
8. UC Davis (9)
9. UC San Diego (8)
10. Pepperdine (10)
T11. San Jose State (11)
T11. Princeton (12)
13. UC Irvine (13)
14. Santa Clara (15)
15. Bucknell (T16)
16. Pomona-Pitzer (19)
17. Loyola Marymount (20)
18. Harvard (18)
19. California Baptist (14)
20. Fordham (T16)
-
RV Brown (RV)
RV Navy (RV)
RV Air Force (RV)
RV Wagner (NR)
RV Air Force (RV)

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UC SAN DIEGO IN THE 2021 CWPA NATIONAL POLL
Sept. 15: 9
Sept. 8: 8
Preseason: T9 (UC Davis)

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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)

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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 688-488-4 (.585). 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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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

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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.