Water Polo Earns NCAA Bid

Pacific Earns Semifinal Bid for NCAA Tournament

STOCKTON, Calif. – The NCAA Men’s Water Polo Committee announced Sunday night the seven teams that have qualified for the 2019 National Collegiate Men’s Water Polo Championship. Following a 16-5 season and their third consecutive Golden Coast Conference regular season title, Pacific earned the No. 2 seed, which automatically places the Tigers into one of two semifinal matchups.

Pacific will face the winner of UC Davis and Pepperdine on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7:00 pm at Chris Kjeldsen Pool at the Pacific Aquatic Center. The Tigers will make their third NCAA Championship appearance in the last seven seasons, having been defeated by USC in the National Championship match in 2013 and finishing as a semifinalist in 2017.

UOP brings an extremely talented and experienced team into the tournament, with five Tigers having earned GCC Postseason Honors this season: Luke Pavillard (Player of the Year and First Team All-GCC), Engin Ege Colak (First Team All-GCC), Jeremie Cote (Newcomer of the Year and Second Team All-GCC), Luis Araya (Honorable Mention) and Matthew Hosmer (GCC All-Freshman Team).

Stanford earned the No. 1 overall seed, while the remaining five teams will compete in three opening-round games for the final two spots in the semifinal matchups. These other teams include: Harvard (29-0), Bucknell (22-8), UC Davis (16-7), Pepperdine (24-7) and USC (14-5). The opening round games will begin on Saturday, Nov. 30, when Harvard will host Bucknell at 9:30 am PST. USC will play the winner of the matchup on Dec. 5 at 1:00 pm, followed by UC Davis vs. Pepperdine at 2:45 pm. Both of these matches will be held at Chris Kjeldsen Pool in addition to the semifinal and championship rounds that will take place on Dec. 7 and Dec. 8, respectively. All matches will be streamed live at game time on NCAA.com.

Conferences receiving automatic qualification included the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (Bucknell), Golden Coast Conference (Pepperdine), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (Stanford), Northeast Water Polo Conference (Harvard) and the Western Water Polo Association (UC Davis). The remaining two teams, Pacific and USC, were selected at-large without geographical restrictions.

Tickets for the 2019 NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship are now on sale through the Pacific Box Office at pacifictigers.com. General admission all session passes are available starting at $55. Limited tickets are available at this time.

LINKS:

Bracket | Broadcast Schedule

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