Teams: No. 11 UC Davis vs. No. 6 Loyola Marymount
Records: Aggies, 7-10 (6-2); Lions 13-8 (4-0)
When: Saturday at noon
Where: Schaal Aquatics Center
Who to watch: Senior captain Grant Muenter is doing it all for UC Davis.
The pass-first lefty has helped his team with 34 assists, doubling the number by any other Aggie while shattering the old season record of 26.
The Alamo, Calif. native also put away five crucial goals last weekend to help the Aggies to a pair of victories.
Did you know? The Aggies and Lions have not met since last November. LMU stole the spotlight, inching out UC Davis in the Western Water Polo Association title game, 7-6.
The Lions have ended the Aggies’ hopes of winning a WWPA championship in each of the past four seasons.
Preview: After a touch match with No. 2 Stanford, the Aggies are saddled up for what is the biggest game of the year so far.
“The LMU game takes on a life of its own,” head coach Steve Doten said. “It’s a conference game, and we’ve had some great battles against them over the years. All of our guys are looking forward to that.”
The midday matchup is poised to be a great one, as the UC Davis-LMU rivalry is the conference’s most heated rivalry. It’s also arguably one of the biggest rivalries in all of water polo.
LMU has improved greatly since last year, thanks mostly to the addition of two Lithuanian national team players who currently lead the team in scoring.
The Lions have notched big wins over No. 9 Long Beach and No. 7 San Diego, and took unbeaten No. 1 USC to triple overtime earlier this season.
“We have our work cut out for us against LMU,” Muenter said, “but I know everyone is really excited for this game.”
– Sammy Brasch
