Water Polo Moves into Division III Top Ten

Whittier College water polo made its way into the Division III top ten rankings at number nine after going 1-1 in their last two games.  The Poets lost 11-10 in a tough battle with SCIAC rival and Division III #8 Occidental College on October 27.  They bounced back with a 17-7 SCIAC win over Caltech on October 29 in Pasadena, Calif.

Against Occidental, Matt Rogers '08 led the Poets offense with two goals and three assists.  He also had four drawn ejections.  Will Jackson '11 scored three goals and assisted on another.  Manny Sanchez '08 had a hat trick as well.  Chris Villanueva '09 finished with two goals and an assist.  Matt Brammer '09 made 13 saves in goal for the Poets.

In the win over Caltech, Villanueva had a nine point game with four goals and five assists.  Brammer was dominant in goal once again, making ten saves, and also got involved in the offense with two goals and two assists.  David Weed '11 finished with a hat trick and an assist.  Jackson scored two goals and assisted on two others.  Sanchez and Rogers finished with two goals and an assist each.  Sean Larsen '10 and Tim Beck '10 each scored goals and Sam Benedum '09 had an assist and pitched in defensively with four steals.

The #9 Poets have two players making waves on the national level.  Brammer is second in the nation (at any level) with 258 saves this season, and is tied for the top spot in saves per game (10.8).  Villanueva is third in the country with 74 goals and a 3.1 goals per game average.

The Poets travel to California Lutheran on October 31 for a 4pm match.  They wrap up regular season play on November 3 at home against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.  The Senior Day festivities start at 11am.