A slate of undefeated teams will enter Avery Aquatic Center Sept. 18.
Only one can emerge unscathed.
No. 1 UCLA men’s water polo (8-0) will head north to Stanford for the Overnght MPSF Invitational this weekend, kicking off a four-game slate with a matchup against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1-5) on Friday afternoon. If the Bruins prevail, they’ll have the chance to face top-ranked squads in the following rounds of the tournament.
The Stags took down Biola by one point Sept. 5 to capture their first win of the season after dropping the first handful of matches. The NCAA Division III program has had recent strong performances against ranked Division I opponents, including a narrow 10-11 loss to No. 14 UC Santa Barbara – a team that the Bruins bested by four goals at the UCLA Mini Invite last weekend.
Should the Bruins come out on top Friday, they will move on to face either No. 8 UC San Diego (7-1) or No. 9 Pepperdine (4-6) Saturday morning. The two potential opponents have met already this season, ending in a 17-15 victory for the Tritons in overtime.
Thereafter, the Bruins will likely face their toughest tests of the season yet against top-five competition, potentially playing No. 4 California (6-0) or No. 6 UC Davis (7-3) in the semifinal. The final match will then bring the possibility of a bout against No. 3 Stanford (5-0) or a replay of the 2025 national championship against No. 2 USC (7-0).
“That tournament is going to have the best 16 teams in the country,” coach Adam Wright said. “It is really the first stop where you see where you are in the landscape of men’s water polo.”
With three of the Bruins’ possible opponents coming into the invite with unbeaten records, only one can remain perfect by the tournament’s conclusion on Sunday.
In 2025, that team was UCLA.
“Nobody is going to come in and roll over because of what we have done in the past,” Wright said. “In fact, they are going to make it harder, and that is a great thing for us.”
The Golden Bears head into the tournament riding momentum from a 19-7 victory over the Aggies – a squad the Bruins beat 14-10 Sept. 5. Nevertheless, with UCLA winning all four matcbes against California last season, coach Kirk Everist’s group will need a new approach to best the Bruins.
Fifth-year defender Jack Merrill, who transferred from Stanford ahead of this season, was on the losing side of last year’s 13-12 match that sent UCLA to the tournament final. This year, the Bruins’ second-highest scorer made it clear that he wants an early-season chance to face off against his former team.
“I hope we play Stanford,” Merrill said.
The Cardinal, who have played the least games among the three undefeated squads, have managed to win by a double-digit margin in all but one of their contests so far this season. The match at Pepperdine on Sept. 5 was far from close, though, with a 14-6 final scoreline.
The Bruin attack may have something to say about Stanford’s smothering defense. A trio of players, including Merrill, have already scored 15 or more goals and the team has netted an average of over 17 goals per game.
“What we do during the week and during training is how you perform on the weekend, and that is going to be crucial for us in this upcoming meet,” said senior utility Ben Liechty.
Another intriguing possibility is a showdown in the final that mirrors last season’s title match, which UCLA won 11-10 over the Trojans.
USC has netted a monstrous 23.6 goals per game this season, with two-meter Strahinja Krstic and driver Robert Lopez Duart providing 27 and 23 goals, respectively. Shutting down these key offensive outlets will be crucial for any squad looking to beat the Trojans.
With both the Bruins and their competition performing at near-perfect levels to this point in the season, this weekend’s tests will require stellar showings to come out on top.
“Realistically, we are a little bit behind where we should be,” Wright said. “Can we do it in a short week? Absolutely.”
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