Sept. 29, 2005

Santa Clara, Calif. - The Santa Clara men's water polo season is only half completed, but they will be playing their final home games of the season this weekend. The University of Pacific, ranked No. 10 in the nation, is slated to take on Santa Clara on Thursday, September 29 at 3:30 p.m., while visiting UC Santa Cruz, rated No. 19 in the country, will face off with the home team on Saturday, October 1 at noon. Both matches will be contested at the Leavey Center pool.

The Broncos (6-5, 6-4 WWPA) will rely on a number of players to pull off the upset against the Tigers. Junior Mike Petersen has been outstanding in the cage for SCU, while freshman Jack Wall and junior Whit Gilfillan have provided the offensive punch necessary to win matches. Senior Grant Allison and sophomore Chris Parolin have also played a key role for Santa Clara in 2005.

Last weekend at the Slugfest Classic, Santa Clara finished with a 3-2 record and head coach Keith Wilbur deemed the tournament a good effort by his squad. This weekend will be a good challenge for the Broncos, as they face two Top-20 opponents, but Wilbur believes that his team is eager for the challenge.

"We are looking forward to our home games against UOP and UC Santa Cruz. UOP is a very good team, currently ranked 10th nationally, so we will have some great competition at our pool on Thursday," said Wilbur. "On Saturday, we play UC Santa Cruz, who is our biggest conference rival. They are off to a very good start this year, so that should be another great game. Every time we match up with UC Santa Cruz, it is a battle."

The Broncos will finish off the weekend by traveling to California on Sunday for a 1 p.m. match-up with the Golden Bears.