No. 2 UCLA Seeks to Defend Tournament Title

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LOS ANGELES – No. 2 UCLA (16-0) travels to Stanford, Calif., this weekend to participate in the Mountain Pacific Invitational on Friday, Oct. 12 through Sunday, Oct. 14 at Avery Aquatic Center. Second-seeded UCLA will open tournament play on Oct. 12 with 15th-seeded Santa Clara (4-6) at 1:30 p.m. PT in Avery Pool. The Bruins' second game will be at 10:40 a.m. PT on Oct. 13. If the Bruins defeat Santa Clara, they will play the winner of 7th-seeded UC San Diego and 10th-seeded Pepperdine in Avery Pool. Should the Broncos win, the Bruins will face the loser of UCSD/Pepperdine at the same time in Belardi Pool. See below for the complete 2018 Mountain Pacific Invitational schedule.

2018 MOUNTAIN PACIFIC INVITATIONAL
Friday, Oct. 12 (Belardi Pool)
Game 1 – 1:30 pm – No. 1 seed USC vs. No. 16 seed Air Force
Game 3 – 2:50 pm – No. 8 seed Long Beach State vs. No. 9 seed UC Davis
Game 5 – 4:10 pm – No. 4 seed California vs. No. 13 seed LMU
Game 7 – 5:30 pm – No. 5 seed UCSB vs. No. 12 seed Pomona-Pitzer

Friday, October 12 (Avery Pool)
Game 2 – 1:30 pm –.No. 2 seed UCLA vs. No. 15 seed Santa Clara
Game 4 – 2:50 pm – No. 7 seed UCSD vs. No. 10 seed Pepperdine
Game 6 – 4:10 pm – No. 14 seed San Jose State at No. 3 seed Stanford
Game 8 – 5:30 pm – No. 6 seed Pacific vs. No. 11 seed UC Irvine

Saturday, October 13 (Avery Pool)
Game 9 – 8:00 am – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 3
Game 11 – 9:20 am – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 7
Game 13 – 10:40 am – Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 4
Game 15 – 12:00 pm – Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 8
Game 17 – 1:20 pm – Loser Game 9 vs. Loser Game 11
Game 19 – 2:40 pm – Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 11 (Semifinal)
Game 21 – 4:00 pm – Loser Game 13 vs. Loser Game 15
Game 23 – 5:20 pm – Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 15 (Semifinal)

Saturday, October 13 (Belardi Pool)
Game 10 – 8:00 am – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3
Game 12 – 9:20 am – Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 7
Game 14 – 10:40 am – Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 4
Game 16 – 12:00 pm – Loser Game 6 vs. Loser Game 8
Game 18 – 1:20 pm – Loser Game 10 vs. Loser Game 12
Game 20 – 2:40 pm – Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 12
Game 22 – 4:00 pm – Loser Game 14 vs. Loser Game 16
Game 24 – 5:20 pm – Winner Game 14 vs. Winner Game 16

Sunday, October 14 (Belardi Pool)
Game 26 – 10:00 am – Loser Game 18 vs. Loser Game 22 (15th-Place)
Game 28 – 11:30 am – Winner Game 18 vs. Winner Game 22 (13th-Place)
Game 30 – 1:00 pm – Loser Game 20 vs. Loser Game 24 (11th-Place)
Game 32 – 2:30 pm – Winner Game 20 vs. Winner Game 24 (9th-Place)

Sunday, October 14 (Avery Pool)
Game 25 – 10:00 am – Loser Game 17 vs. Loser Game 21 (7th-Place)
Game 27 – 11:30 am – Winner Game 17 vs. Winner Game 21 (5th-Place)
Game 29 – 1:00 pm – Loser Game 19 vs. Loser Game 23 (3rd-Place)
Game 31 – 2:30 pm – Winner Game 19 vs. Winner Game 23 (1st-Place)

Mountain Pacific Invitational History
This is the third annual Mountain Pacific Invitational with the Bruins winning the title in 2016 and again in 2017. Last year at USC, the Bruins opened with a 7-4 win over No. 20 LMU and a 9-8 win over No. 5 Pacific. In the semifinals, the Bruins stunned No. 1 and defending NCAA Champions California, 9-8, in overtime before beating No. 2 USC, 13-11, in the finals. Max Irving scored six goals against the Trojans while Alex Roelse chipped in four as the Bruins scored the most goals against USC in school history. The 2016 tournament was hosted by California and the top-ranked Bruins were never really challenged en route to the title. The Bruins opened with an 18-7 win over Pomona-Pitzer and followed with an 11-5 win over No. 10 Pepperdine. The Bruins defeated No. 4 Pacific in the semifinals, 8-5, before posting a 10-7 win over No. 3 California to earn the title.

Recapping Last Week
No. 2 UCLA improved to 16-0 on the year with an 11-8 win over No. 16 San Jose State on Saturday (Oct. 6) afternoon at Dirks Pool at Spieker Aquatics Center. The Bruins improved to 12-1 all-time against the Spartans as SJSU dropped to 4-6 on the year. The Bruins were led by four players with two goals apiece, which included freshman Ashworth Molthen, sophomore Felix Brozyna-Vilim and seniors Warren Snyder and Austin Rone. Redshirt junior Alex Wolf got the start in the cage and played all but the final 1:29 of the fourth quarter, making 10 stops while allowing six goals. Redshirt junior Jonathan Van De Velde played the final 1:29, surrendering two goals.

Cavano Named MPSF/KAP7 Player of the Week
UCLA freshman Jake Cavano (Huntington Beach, CA/Huntington Beach HS) was named the MPSF/KAP7 Player of the Week as announced by the league office on Monday, Sept. 17. The true freshman made a stellar debut last week, leading the Bruins in scoring with 10 goals in three games to help keep the team unbeaten. After missing the first eight games of the season, Cavano scored his first collegiate goal in a win at No. 7 UC Santa Barbara (Sept. 13). He then had a team-high and MPSF season-high-tying five goals (on six shots) in a 16-10 home win over No. 10 Pepperdine, followed by a team-best four goals (on four shots) in a 14-8 win over Loyola Marymount in game two of Saturday's doubleheader (Sept. 15). He was 10-for-14 on shots for the week, while recording three assists, three steals and one field block over the three wins. This is the first career MPSF honor for Cavano. He was also named the UCLA/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week.

Coaching Changes
During the offseason, UCLA men's water polo hired three-time NCAA Champion and Bruin standout Jack Grover to the post of assistant coach (replacing Ryder Roberts) and has added U.S. Olympian and former UCLA All-American Alex Roelse as an undergraduate assistant coach. These changes are following the 2017 promotion of Jason Falitz to associate head coach.

Wright on Deck
Adam Wright is in his 10th season as UCLA's head men's water polo coach in 2018 with an overall record of 243-37 (.868) and an MPSF mark of 51-12 (.810). His teams earned perfect APR (Academic Progress Rate) scores of 1,000 in 2014, 2015 and 2016 while winning the school's 112th, 113th and 114th NCAA Championships in 2014, 2015 and 2017. On July 20, 2017, UCLA Director of Athletics, Dan Guerrero, announced that Wright will guide both the UCLA men's and women's water polo teams.

Recapping 2017
Overall Record: 21-4 | Final Ranking: 1st | NCAA Finish: 1st | MPSF Tournament Finish: 2nd

The Bruins finished the 2017 season by winning the program's 11^th NCAA Championship and the school's 114^th overall with a 7-5 victory at USC. UCLA finished the year with a 21-4 record, culminating in its third NCAA title in the last four years. Adam Wright was named MPSF and ACWPC National Coach of the Year. Six Bruins were named All-Americans with seniors Alex Roelse and Max Irving being named to the first team. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Alex Wolf was named to the second team after being selected as the NCAA Tournament MVP. Also chosen as a second team All-American was the Bruins' leading scorer, freshman Nicolas Saveljic.

Bruins Picked to Finish First in the MPSF
Defending national champion UCLA placed on top of the 2018 MPSF Men's Water Polo Preseason Coaches' Poll, collecting the maximum possible totals of 25 points and five first-place votes. The Bruins, who have captured three of the last four NCAA titles, welcome back four starters and a pair of Second Team All-Americans from last year's 21-4 team. Junior goalkeeper and 2017 NCAA Championship MVP Alex Wolf returns as does sophomore team leading scorer Nicolas Saveljic (45 goals, MPSF 4th). Coming off an MPSF Championship and a 13th-straight NCAA Final appearance, USC finished second in the poll with 21 points and the remaining first-place vote. Only one true senior is on the Trojan roster this year in Zach D'Sa, who scored a career-best 26 goals for last year's 27-4 squad. USC also returns All-Americans Matt Maier and Marko Vavic, as well as Olympian Thomas Dunstan. Vavic was one of three players in the MPSF last year to put away at least 50 goals. California placed third in the poll with 16 points. The Bears return two of the nation's most prolific scorers from last year's NCAA Semifinal team in senior First Team All-American Johnny Hooper (47 goals) and senior Second-Team All-American Odysseas Masmanidis (40 goals). Olympians Hooper and Masmanidis both finished 2017 in the MPSF's top-six in scoring average. Stanford took fourth in the poll with 14 points. Led by First Team All-American and MPSF Newcomer of the Year Ben Hallock (54 goals, MPSF 2nd) and two-time All-American Blake Parrish (36 goals), the Cardinal welcomes back its top two scorers from last year's top-seeded MPSF Tournament team. Penn State Behrend had nine points to place fifth. Kyle Frerichs (20 goals), Isaak Hatopp (14 goals), and goalkeeper Matt Olimski (246 saves) are amongst the top returnees. The Lions will make their third appearance in the MPSF Championship Tournament. Austin College rounds out the preseason poll, transitioning from club status to its first-ever season on the NCAA level. Sophomores Andrew Pomier (GK) and Robert Griffin are projected as key starters after club level success. As with Penn State Behrend, the Kangaroos will not partake in the MPSF's regular season, but will compete in the postseason conference tournament.

2018 MPSF Coaches' Preseason Poll

Team	Points (1st Place)	2017 Record	2017 MPSF Tourney	2017 NCAA Finish
UCLA	25 (5)	21-4	2nd	Champions
USC	21 (1)	27-4	1st	2nd
California	16	20-4	3rd	T-3rd
Stanford	14	19-5	4th	n/a
Penn State Behrend	9	6-15	5th	n/a
Austin College	5	First Year	First Year	First Year

UCLA In The CWPA Poll
The Bruins, who claimed the 2017 NCAA Championship, remained in second place in the Week 6 CWPA National Men's Varsity Top 20 Poll (96 points), released on Oct. 10.

2018 MEN'S VARSITY TOP 20 (Week 6 - Oct. 10)
Rank	Team	Last Week's Poll	Points
1	Stanford	3	98
2	UCLA	2	97
3	USC	1	91
4	California	4	85
5	UC Santa Barbara	5	79
6	Pacific	6	76
7	UC Davis	9	66
8	Pepperdine	11	63
9	Long Beach State	10	61
10	Harvard	7	54
11	UC San Diego	8	48
12	UC Irvine	12 (T)	44
13	Brown	RV	38
14	Princeton	12 (T)	33
15	Pomona-Pitzer	15	28
16	Cal Baptist	14	24
17	Bucknell	20	23
18	San José State	16	19
19	George Washington	17	10
20	Wagner	18	6
RV	Loyola Marymount	19	4
RV	Navy	NR	4
RV	St. Francis Brooklyn	RV	2

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No. 2 UCLA Seeks to Defend Tournament Title

2018 MEN'S VARSITY TOP 20 (Week 6 - Oct. 10)

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Players Mentioned

Felix Brozyna-Vilim

Jake Cavano

Jack Grover

Max Irving

Ashworth Molthen

Ryder Roberts

Alex Roelse

Austin Rone

Nicolas Saveljic

Warren Snyder

Jonathan Van De Velde

Alex Wolf

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

No. 2 UCLA Seeks to Defend Tournament Title

2018 MEN'S VARSITY TOP 20 (Week 6 - Oct. 10)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Felix Brozyna-Vilim

Jake Cavano

Jack Grover

Max Irving

Ashworth Molthen

Ryder Roberts

Alex Roelse

Austin Rone

Nicolas Saveljic

Warren Snyder

Jonathan Van De Velde

Alex Wolf

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