LOS ANGELES – California Baptist University men's water polo will become the first program in school history to compete at the NCAA Championships on Thursday, March 18 at 1 p.m.

The sixth-ranked Lancers will go up against third-ranked national power UCLA. The winner will advance to the NCAA Championship semifinals to face the top-overall seed Stanford on Saturday at 2 p.m. The 2021 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship runs from March 18-21 at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center on the campus of USC in Los Angeles.

CBU made history at the Western Water Polo Association Championship when it won its first-ever conference title, with wins over Loyola Marymount (10-6) and Air Force (11-9). The Lancers are 7-4 and riding a three-game winning streak going into nationals.



"We have a strong belief in ourselves and what we can do," Coach Kevin Rosa said. "The teams at this championship are the best of the best.  We earned the right to be here, and we plan on going out there and playing our best game.  We feel that if we can play for each other and focus on what we need to do, we can be successful."

UCLA is coming off a fourth-place finish at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament. The Bruins lost to the eventual champion, Stanford in the MPSF's first round (11-8) and then fell to USC in the third-place game (11-7). 

The Bruins have a 6-7 overall record this season, and are in the hunt for their 12^th NCAA title in men's water polo. UCLA last won it all in 2017, which was its third title in a four-year span (2014-17). 

SERIES NOTES
This will be the 11^th meeting between CBU and UCLA. The two teams last met in 2019, with the Lancers battling the Bruins in a 12-6 game at UCLA. It was the closest game ever played between the two, as UCLA has an 11-goal average margin of victory over the Lancers.

The Lancers and Bruins first met in 2003 and played each other five teams over a four-year span (2003-06). The series took a five-year hiatus, as the two did not meet again until 2012. CBU and UCLA have played each other five teams over the last nine years.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP OPENING ROUND INFORMATION
Opponent: #3 UCLA 
Date/Time: Thursday, March 18 at 1 p.m.
Location: Los Angeles (Uytengsu Aquatics Center)
Video: NCAA.com
Live Stats: The FOSH

TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK
Stanford earned this year's top seed after winning the prestigious MPSF Tournament earlier Sunday. All four of the MPSF's top teams earned berths to the NCAAs this year, as the Golden Coast Conference did not meet the minimum number of teams competing to qualify for an automatic berth this season.

Cal was tabbed the two seed after taking runner-up in the MPSF, while USC earned the No. 3 seed and will face sixth-seeded Bucknell in the other first-round game Thursday 4 p.m. For more information on the semifinals and finals, visit the NCAA Championship Tournament Central page.



CBU AT A GLANCE
Throughout the regular season, CBU was led by its offense as it averaged 15.4 goals a game and held its opponents 12.5 a game in the regular season. In the WWPA Championships, the Lancers were led by their defense as they held their opposition to 7.5 goals a game and averaged 10.5 themselves.

All year long, the Lancers have  been led by their senior trio of PJ McDonough, Gabe Thorne and Zach Lowery this season. Those three earned All-WWPA First-Team honors, with Thorne also taking the Player of the Year award.

Thorne has a 6-3 record in goal this year. He has maintained a 53.0 save percentage, 10.46 goals-against average, 105 saves, 11 steals and two assists. McDonough leads the Lancers with 39 goals, 46 points and six field blocks this season. Lowery owns team-highs in assists (21), steals (28), sprint wins (17), sprint win percentage (85.0) and also ranks second in goals (25).

Junior Hunter Barnett has put together a big season for the Lancers, as well. He ranks third on the team with 21 goals and 30 points. CBU has also gotten big contributions from underclassmen: freshmen Cameron Cullen (25) and Caleb Teraoka (22), sophomore Angel Sanchez and junior Riley Bumgardner (20) all have at least 20 points.
Cullen has 27 points with 18 assists and nine goals, Teraoka has 22 on 13 goals and 12 assists. Sanchez has 18 assists and four goals, while Bumgardner has 15 assists and five goals.

Joseph Griffin and Matt Olsen are the center of the Lancers' offense. Griffin ranks fourth with 15 goals and has scored in the last eight games, while Olsen has a team-high 37 drawn ejections.

UCLA AT A GLANCE
All seven of UCLA's losses this year have come against top-four teams: Cal, USC and Stanford. The Bruins have also defeated all three of those teams at least once this year.

UCLA is led by Nicolas Saveljic, who is one of if not the top player in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation this season. He's scored 12 more goals than the next Bruin (Tommy Gruwell, 19) but does a bit of everything, with team-highs in points (39) and steals (24). He leads the MPSF in steals and ranks second in goals with the leader – USC's Jacob Mercep (32) in front by just one.

Chasen Travisano is the Bruins' leading playmaker, with 16 assists. Both Travisano (13) and Saveljic (10) UCLA's leaders in sprint wins, as well.

Bernardo Maurizi gives UCLA perhaps the top goalie in the MPSF, as well. He has a conference-high 122 saves and 52.1 save percentage, with a 9.66 goals-against average and 18 steals.