Pepperdine Men’s Water Polo plays against Pomona-Pitzer on Aug. 30 at the Triton Invitational. The Waves started their season with a 3-1 record at the tournament. Photos courtesy of Pepperdine Athletics
Men’s Water Polo is ready to make waves this season – and they’re in the perfect position to do so. Pepperdine entered the 2025 season ranked No. 7 nationally and No. 2 in the West Coast Conference, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
This is the second consecutive year the Waves came in the top 10 teams across the nation. It’s also the second year of the Merrill Moses era.
Moses was a Wave himself and represented Team USA as a three-time Olympian, All-American and national champion before becoming the head coach for Pepperdine, according to Pepperdine Athletics. Since Moses has plenty of experience under his belt, he said he knows rankings aren’t the end-all be-all.
“It’s a good start for sure, but bottom line is you got to be the best at the end of season,” Moses said. “That’s nice, but we’re looking towards getting better every week to be at our best in November.”
Last season, Moses said his squad sat as the No. 4 nationally ranked team for multiple weeks, but his returners learned those rankings don’t last. He will certainly be looking at his team captains to carry his team’s momentum, which will fall to senior attackers Adam Csapo, Sandor Gal and junior utility Jon Carcarey.
“We’re honored that we have those rankings, but we are focusing on just being ourselves and working hard and proving that we are worthy of those rankings,” Gal said.
Senior attacker Sandor Gal threatens against Pomona-Pitzer on Aug. 30. Gal will serve as one of the team captains this year.
Csapo earned All-WCC Second Team honors last year, while Gal and sophomore attacker Erik Ionescu earned All-WCC Honorable Mentions. Ionescu was also named the WCC Freshman of the Year, which led the way to him and Csapo earning All-WCC Preseason Honors this year, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Gal said the honor of being captain is not one he takes lightly. The senior wants to support his team in any way he can, and sometimes that starts by simply showing up.
“I’m more of a lead by example kind of guy,” Gal said. “Showing the guys you have to work hard every day – I just want to help my teammates. I’m always trying to be there for them and help them.”
This year’s squad is a unit, not just a group of individuals, Moses said. Even with his captains, Moses knows every player on his team will make an impact this year. Not only does the team have some big threats in the water, but these players can move around the pool and help the team in multiple ways.
“We are a very deep team, and I think that’s going to be a big part of our success,” Moses said.
His players have been training hard over summer, with some of them representing their countries on the national stage. Carcarey won a silver medal with Team USA at the World Aquatics U20 World Championships in Croatia, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Junior utility Jon Carcarey leads his team against Pomona-Pitzer on Aug. 30 at the Triton Invitational. Carcarey represented Team USA this summer before the season began.
There are young athletes seeing the same national recognition, with freshman utility Csanád Bella having represented Hungary at the European U18 Championships in August, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Bella isn’t the only freshman that will be important on this year’s squad, Moses said. In their first tournament down to San Diego for the Triton Invitational, Moses took five first-years with him – something that adds to the team’s threatening depth.
“It’s rare to have that many freshmen that are going to make an immediate impact,” Moses said.
One of these freshmen is center Max Burstein. The freshman said his team has been extremely helpful in making his transition pretty easy, and this camaraderie translates into the pool.
“This is truly like a family, a brotherhood,” Burstein said. “I’ve been truly lucky to be a part of this program. We’re working together, and we’re all working toward the same goal.”
For this team, that goal starts with the WCC. Even with the honor of being nationally recognized, Moses said he wants his team to take each day as it comes. After his first year at the helm, he learned that his team can peak too early and wants to make sure that doesn’t happen this time around.
“We’re modifying some things to make sure we peak at the right time,” Moses said. “We want to win every game we play, but our first goal is to take it step by step, game by game.”
The players said this means showing the teams how hard they’ve been training. Moses said his squad has been here all summer, and he’s not sure any other program has been working as hard as the Waves have been.
“We want to show everyone what we’re about and what’s going to happen this season,” Burstein said.
The Waves started the season off strong with a 14-12 win over No. 20 Navy on Aug. 30, according to Pepperdine Athletics. Their next match up will be Sept. 13 when they travel to take on No. 1 UCLA.
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