Bucknell University Athletics
No. 17 Bucknell Men's Water Polo Travels to California to Face Four Ranked Teams
10/21/2011 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 21, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. –No stranger to facing ranked opponents, the No. 17 Bucknell men's water polo team will face four top-15 foes in a 26-hour span this weekend at the Santa Clara Rodeo. The Bison will face No. 3 Stanford, No. 6 Pepperdine, No. 12 UC Davis and No. 15 Santa Clara as they close out their regular season with their annual trip to California.
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Notebook (10-4, 5-3 CWPA)
• Bucknell is ranked No. 17 in the nation this week. The Bison have been ranked all season, climbing as high as No. 15 in the polls.
• Bucknell has not lost back-to-back games this season. The Bison enter the weekend coming off a 10-8 loss to nationally ranked Navy.
• Bucknell's four losses this season have come by a combined six goals, with two being overtime affairs.
• Bucknell is the only team in the CWPA Southern Division, East Region to have completed its conference schedule. The Bison wrapped up league play with a 5-3 record. Princeton (5-2) is in first place, while Navy (3-3) sits third. George Washington (2-4) and Johns Hopkins (2-5) round out the five-team standings.
• Bucknell will be playing its first non-league games since Sept. 18 this weekend. The Bison had eight consecutive contests against conference opponents.
• This is the second straight year Bucknell has wrapped up its regular season with a trip to the Santa Clara Rodeo. The Bison went 1-3 at the competitive event last year, defeating No. 11 UC Davis, but falling to Air Force, No. 13 Santa Clara and No. 7 Pacific.
• Bucknell is 3-2 against ranked opponents in 2011.
• No. 3 Stanford will be the highest-ranked opponent Bucknell will face since taking on No. 3 USC in 2009. The Bison also faced the Cardinal that year when they were No. 2 in the polls.
• Four-time CWPA Southern Division Defensive Player of the Week Matt Napleton has a career-high 134 saves this season. He has reached double-figures in stops seven times in the last 10 games.
• Sophomore Trevor Reitz continues to excel in sprints, winning 40 of 49. Overall, the Bison have claimed 46 of 56 sprints this season.
• It's now a tight race for the team scoring lead as junior Brian Barron has 32 goals, followed closely by sophomore Jack Else's 30 goals. Eight different Bison have reached double figures in goals this season.
• Sophomore Alex Nowlin has a team-high 44 assists this season. He enters the weekend 18 helpers shy of 10th place on the Bison single-season list. No player has joined that list since Kevin Permisohn dished out 65 assists in 2000. Nowlin has had at least two assists in 13 of Bucknell's 14 games this season.
• Else has drawn at least one ejection in every game this season. He leads the team with a career-high 38. He needs just two more ejections drawn to move onto the single-season top-10 list.
• Bucknell is 69-4 in its last 73 games it has scored at least 10 goals.
Bucknell's Weekly Awards in 2011
Susquehanna Valley Limousine Bison Athlete of the Week
- Alex Nowlin (Sept. 5), Daniel Schwartz (Oct. 10)
CWPA Southern Division Offensive Player of the Week
- Alex Nowlin (Sept. 6, Sept. 20), Brian Barron (Oct. 11)
CWPA Southern Division Defensive Player of the Week
- Matt Napleton (Sept. 6, Sept. 20, Sept. 27, Oct. 11)
About No. 3 Stanford (Saturday at 2:40 p.m.)
• Stanford leads the all-time series 6-0.
• Stanford won last meeting (2009 season opener) by a 22-7 score.
• Stanford is 9-3 overall and 2-1 in MPSF play this year.
• Stanford plays Pacific on Friday afternoon.
• Stanford had a six-game winning streak snapped by UCLA last weekend.
About No. 12 UC Davis (Saturday at 9:20 p.m.)
• Series is tied 1-1.
• Bucknell won last year's meeting at Santa Clara Rodeo by 7-6 score.
• UC Davis won first-ever meeting in 2009 by 8-5 margin.
• UC Davis is 16-7 overall this year and 10-2 in WWPA play.
• UC Davis enters the weekend on a three-game losing streak.
About No. 15 Santa Clara (Sunday at 12:20 p.m.)
• Santa Clara leads all-time series 5-3.
• Santa Clara has won two in a row in the series.
• Bucknell's last win in the series came in 2006.
• Santa Clara is 11-10 overall and 4-4 in WWPA play.
• Santa Clara is 2-6 in its last eight games.
About No. 6 Pepperdine (Sunday at 4:20 p.m.)
• Pepperdine leads the all-time series 6-0.
• Pepperdine won last meeting 10-8 in 2007.
• Pepperdine has won three games in a row entering its Friday game with Cal.
Up Next
• Bucknell will head to postseason play when it competes at the Southern Championships Nov. 4-6. Princeton is this year's host.
