By Erica Sigman
Staff Writer
Despite the layer of smoke hanging over Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool Sunday, the Pepperdine men’s water polo team defeated No. 9 University of California Santa Barbara after falling to the No. 1 USC Trojans.
The fires in areas near Pepperdine affected the team’s ability.
According to senior two-meter man Michael Hausmann, it was difficult to breathe and, consequently, the pace of the game was a little slower.
Sunday afternoon, the Waves beat UCSB 12-7 after a loss to USC 10-6.
The Waves ended the weekend with an overall record of 13-4 and 2-2 in conference play.
Sunday, the Waves hosted the UCSB Gauchos at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. Pepperdine came out strong, outscoring UCSB 3-1 in the first quarter of action.
The Waves continued to dominate the remainder of the game and did not allow the Gauchos to score at all in the final quarter.
Despite the tough atmosphere, six different players scored for the Waves, with junior utility-man Jesse Smith scoring a season-high six goals.
The Waves had a slow start to the weekend at McDonald’s Swim Stadium, home of the USC Trojans.
The Trojans held the Waves scoreless in the first quarter of play and lead 6-1 at the close of the first half.
Watching the slow first half of play, made fans wonder if this was the same Pepperdine team that has defeated top-ranked teams in the past.
“All our shots in the first half missed the cage,” Hausmann said. “We just didn’t finish our shots.”
Pepperdine assistant coach Alex Rodriguez agrees.
“If we would’ve been more effective shooting wise, we would’ve done a lot better,” Rodriguez said. “We were pretty well prepared for USC, we just needed to focus more on shooting.”
Smith had another idea.
“I think that the two games previous to the USC game didn’t help us because they were somewhat easy, laidback games,” Smith said. “We weren’t playing passionately.”
The fact that the Waves were running a drop defense compared to USC’s more aggressive press defense, also, could have been a reason for the lack of aggressiveness in the first half.
Pepperdine came out strong in the third quarter, outscoring USC 3-2, but the comeback proved to be two quarters too late.
The Trojans played incredible defense, holding the Waves for the last quarter to secure the win.
“They worked really hard the whole game,” Smith said. “We just have to work on trying to maintain an even game.”
Once again, Smith led the Waves with two goals, and five teammates, including Hausmann and junior driver Josh Acosta, followed with one goal a piece.
Overall, Pepperdine’s level of play was not up to par Saturday and very uncharacteristic for a No. 4-ranked team, but with every defeat comes a lesson learned.
“It’s important that we play our game,” Hausmann said. “As long as we all stay on the same page, it should be a good outcome.”
The Waves travel to Northern California this weekend to meet up against University of Pacific Saturday and Stanford Sunday.
The weekend will prove to be tough for the Waves as they go against top-ranked Stanford and try to seek revenge on a loss earlier in the season.
“We’re going to try and maintain control of the game and not let it get out of hand,” Smith said.
The Pepperdine coaching staff feels confident about matching up against Stanford this time around and plans to take all week to focus on shooting.
“I think we match up with them really well,” Rodriguez said. “It all depends on if we can finish our shots.”
October 30, 2003