LEBANON, Ill. - The men's water polo team will travel to Irvine, California to take part in the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Championship from Friday, November 22nd to Sunday, November 24th, facing Biola University in the quarterfinal matchup at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center on Friday. The tournament will be hosted by WWPA-member Concordia University Irvine. 

Since its inception as a league in 1981, this will be the 35th men's championship in its history. Former member, University of California San Diego, leads with the most titles with 14. This will be McKendree's second season as part of the conference, with last year getting fourth place as Biola was named the WWPA champion, who fell to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the NCAA Quarterfinals. 

Should the Bearcats win the WWPA Championship, they will earn a bid to the National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Finals (hosted by Stanford University), which will be from Friday, December 6th to Sunday, December 8th. 

BEARCATS CURRENTLY

McKendree is coming off a bye week after hosting the WWPA Bearcat Clash the weekend prior. They lost both games to Salem University and Gannon University in a round-robin format which ultimately gave them the three seed in the East region for the upcoming tournament. Junior James Ramey (St. Louis, Mo.) led all Bearcats in scoring in game one against the Tigers with five goals and five drawn exclusions as teammate sophomore Yannick Robertson (Trinidad and Tobago) notched in four goals of his own. In the final game of the day against the Golden Knights, Robertson dropped in five goals with six drawn exclusions. 

Robertson's 55 total goals are tied for 8th in the conference as he is also tied for fourth in goals-per-game at 3.1. The Bearcats also have two top-three field blockers in the league with junior Riccardo Vettore (Padova, Italy) and freshman Joshua Gibson (Nassau, Bahamas) collecting 15 and 14 respectively. Fifth-year Jimmy Cronin (Naperville, Ill.) has been a constant in the net as he is fourth in the WWPA in saves total at 182 and save percentage at 37.5%. He also leads the conference in saves-per-game at a slight advantage with 10.1. 

McKendree currently sits at 2-16 overall and 0-4 in the WWPA, plus obtaining an exhibition win back in late September. Last week, Robertson earned his second WWPA Offensive Player of the Year award on Wednesday after his performance in the WWPA Bearcat Clash. 

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

Biola University | Friday, November 22nd, 11:00 AM PT 

    Last Matchup: L, 12-15 on 11/18/2023 | RECAP | BOX SCORE 

Last year's WWPA Champion and this year's preseason number one selection, Biola, will be a tough test for the Bearcats despite the Eagles having a 10-20 overall record while going 2-2 in conference action. Exactly half of their opponents were from the NCAA Division I ranks. Most recently, Biola is coming off a 2-0 weekend, where they won narrowly over WWPA-foe Fresno Pacific University, 12-11, and the next day over provisional-member University of California Merced, 15-12. Those outcomes locked them into the number two seed in the West region. 

The Eagles' leading scorer, senior John Grasso, is tied with McKendree's Robertson in the WWPA in total goals with 55 as he also tallies 11 field blocks and is second in the league in steals-per-game with 1.8. Fellow senior Nolan Rapp is placed fourth in the conference in total assists with 48 and fifth in points with 98. Grasso, Rapp, and senior goalkeeper Mitchell Carpenter all make up the top three in the WWPA in total steals with 56, 55, and 44 respectively. Carpenter also leads the entire conference in total saves with 252. 

TUNE IN-FO

TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Biola] [Salem] [Gannon] [Concordia Irvine] [Fresno Pacific] [UC Merced] 

TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Biola] [Salem] [Gannon] [Concordia Irvine] [Fresno Pacific] [UC Merced] 

TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Biola] [Salem] [Gannon] [Concordia Irvine] [Fresno Pacific] [UC Merced] 

vs Biola University (Quarterfinals) 

WATCH: Click HERE 

LIVE STATS: Click HERE 

HISTORY: Click HERE 

Semifinals or Consolation 

WATCH: Click HERE 

LIVE STATS: Click HERE 

Finals, Third Place, or Fifth Place 

WATCH: Click HERE 

LIVE STATS: Click HERE 

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

(All times local) 
 
Friday, November 22, 2024 
Game 1 (Exhibition), 9am: UC Merced vs #1W Concordia 
Game 2 (Quarterfinals), 11am: #3E McKendree vs #2W Biola 
Game 3 (Quarterfinals), 1pm: #3W Fresno Pacific vs #2E Gannon 
Game 4 (Exhibition), 3pm: UC Merced vs #1E Salem 
 
Saturday, November 23, 2024 
Game 5  (Exhibition), 9am: UC Merced vs Loser Game 2 
Game 6 (Semifinals), 11am: Winner Game 3 vs #1W Concordia 
Game 7 (Semifinals), 1pm: Winner Game 2 vs #1E Salem 
Game 8 (Exhibition), 3pm: UC Merced vs Loser Game 3 
 
Sunday, November 24, 2024 
Game 9 (5th Place), 9am: Loser Game 2 vs Loser Game 3 
Game 10 (3rd Place), 11am: Loser Game 6 vs Loser Game 7 
Game 11 (Championship), 1pm: Winner Game 6 vs Winner Game 7 
 
*UC Merced, which will join the WWPA as a full NCAA Division II member for the 2026-27 competitive season, will be participating in exhibitions during the competition. 

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