Poets finalize 2009 Men's Water Polo Slate

WHITTIER, Calif. - The Whittier College men's water polo team will face top Division I foes Loyola Marymount, UC Santa Barbara and Santa Clara, among others, as it officially released its 2009 schedule today (May 29). The Poets will host only three home events but play 28 regular season games.

The non-conference schedule features Chapman University, two games at the Inland Empire Tournament hosted by Redlands, a pair of games at the Cal Lutheran Invite, four games at the Bronco Invite hosted by D-I Santa Clara, four games at the Claremont Convergence Tournament, a game against Mt. San Antonio (Junior College) and games against NAIA Concordia and Cal Baptist.

The purple and gold will also face Pepperdine University in a scrimmage on Sept. 12. Last year the Waves finished No. 2 in the country.

"I am very excited about the schedule," said coach Justin Pudwill who is entering his third season at the helm of the men's water polo team. "Our non-SCIAC games will be very challenging but I believe it will better prepare us for the SCIAC."

The Poets open Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at Cal Lutheran on Oct. 17 and then  host its first two home games of the year on Oct. 21 and 24 against La Verne and Redlands.

Whittier has back-to-back road games at Caltech and at Pomona-Pitzer before it returns home for Senior Day against Claremont-M-S. The Poets round out conference play at rival Occidental on Nov.  7.

The SCIAC Championships are slated to take place Nov. 13-15 at Claremont-M-S, the Western Water Polo Association Championships will be held Nov. 20-22 at Chapman and the 2009 NCAA Championships will be held Dec. 5 and 6 at Princeton.