LA JOLLA, Calif.—The UC San Diego men's water polo team will open its 2021 season, playing host to 11 other institutions at the annual Triton Invitational. The tournament is slated for Saturday, Sept. 4 and Sunday, Sept. 5 at Canyonview Aquatic Center.

It will have been nearly two years without a countable contest for the Triton scholar-athletes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 
TOURNAMENT DETAILS
Twelve teams throughout the state of California will partake in the two-day Triton Invite, including various top teams in the country. Nine of the programs competing this weekend were ranked in the 2021 Top 20 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Preseason Poll. Unlike any year in the past, this year's Triton Invite features a pre-set schedule, ensuring four non-conference matchups for each school in attendance.
 
For the tournament page (teams, schedules, box scores, live stats and live video links), click here.
 
THE SCHEDULE
Game 1
vs. Occidental (0-0, 0-0 SCIAC)
Saturday, Sept. 4 • 8 a.m.
Triton Pool • Canyonview Aquatic Center • La Jolla
Watch Live • Live Stats • Tickets
 
Game 2
vs. No. 5 Pepperdine (0-0, 0-0 GCC)
Saturday, Sept. 4 • 12:30 p.m.
Triton Pool • Canyonview Aquatic Center • La Jolla
Watch Live • Live Stats • Tickets
 
Game 3
vs. Westcliff (0-0, 0-0 CPC)
Sunday, Sept. 5 • 8 a.m.
Triton Pool • Canyonview Aquatic Center • La Jolla
Watch Live • Live Stats • Tickets
 
Game 4
vs. No. 8 Long Beach State (0-0, 0-0 GCC)
Sunday, Sept. 5 • 12:30 p.m.
Triton Pool • Canyonview Aquatic Center • La Jolla
Watch Live • Live Stats • Tickets
 
ALL-TIME vs. OPPONENTS
UC San Diego vs. Occidental: 16-0
UC San Diego vs. Pepperdine: 10-47-1
UC San Diego vs. Westcliff: N/A
UC San Diego vs. Long Beach State: 19-53
 
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.
 
ATTENDING THE TOURNAMENT
Per the current COVID-19 guidelines set by the state of California and the County of San Diego, fans are permitted to attend home games at Canyonview Aquatic Center. However, all fans are required to wear a mask covering their nose and mouth at all times – regardless of vaccination status – and food is not permitted inside the stadium. Triton Invitational tickets will be sold at $15 for a one day pass and $25 for a two day pass and may be purchased, here. Parking permits are required seven days per week on campus. For UC San Diego Parking information, click here.
 
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.
 
BEHIND THE SCENES AT MEDIA DAY

 
TRITONS PICKED FIRST IN WWPA, NINTH IN CWPA PRESEASON POLLS
Voted on by the league's head coaches, UC San Diego earned 60 points in the WWPA Preseason Poll to tie with UC Davis for the number one spot. The Aggies narrowly edged the Tritons in first-place votes, five to four. For more, click here.
 
UC San Diego and UC Davis, once again, tied in rank in the CWPA Preseason Poll at number nine. Both programs totaled 53 points and were the highest ranked among all other WWPA schools. To see the entire poll, click here.  

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 683-486-4 (.576). 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.
 
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 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 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.