Teams: No. 11 UC Davis vs. No. 6 UC Santa Barbara
Records: Aggies, 2-2 (1-1); Gauchos, 2-2 (0-0)
Where: Campus Pool – Santa Barbara, Calif.
When: Friday at 3 p.m.
Who to watch: When Paul Wilson hits the water for the Aggies on Friday, the senior will do so in front of a hometown crowd.
The Santa Barbara native led UC Davis scorers with eight goals – on eight shots – at the UC San Diego Triton Invitational last weekend. He notched hat tricks against Pomona-Pitzer and No. 14 UCSD.
Did you know? In Steve Doten’s eight seasons as UC Davis’ head coach, the Aggies have yet to face the Gauchos in Santa Barbara. All previous contests took place at the Schaal Aquatics Center or at a neutral site.
Preview: There’s more on the line than sister school supremacy when UC Davis faces UCSB.
Two of the top men’s water polo programs in the nation, the Gauchos and Aggies finished sixth and seventh in a competitive Triton Invitational field, respectively.
The Aggies picked up wins against Pomona-Pitzer and No. 13 Pacific, but fell to No. 7 Pepperdine and UCSD. Senior utility Adam Bennett scored in each of UC Davis’ four contests.
The Gauchos beat Pacific and lost to UCSD. A win versus Cal Lutheran and a defeat against No. 8 Loyola Marymount evened their record at 2-2.
“UC Santa Barbara is darn good,” Doten said. “I don’t think they fired on all four cylinders in their first weekend, and it’s not a good indicator on how they’ll be this week or a month from now.”
–Adam Loberstein XXX
