MALIBU, Calif. – Another strong third period helped the Cal men's water polo team build enough advantage to weather a late charge by host Pepperdine and the No. 4-ranked Bears finished off a two-win trip to Southern California with a 13-11 victory over the No. 11 Waves at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.

One day after picking up a win at UC Irvine, Cal (12-1) returned to action and again worked to take an early lead. This time though, the initial scoring came from a variety of players as goals by Marko Valecic, Safak Simsek and Vassilis Tzavaras helped give the Bears a 3-2 lead after one period.

Valecic, Simsek and Johnny Hooper added goals in the second period to put Cal up 6-4 at halftime and, just like they did at Irvine one day earlier, the Bears used the third period to put a little separation between themselves and the Waves on the scoreboard. After Pepperdine scored the first two goals of the half to tie the match at six, Cal finished the period by scoring five of the next six goals to take an 11-7 lead heading to the fourth.

Pepperdine (6-6) had one more rally in it but fourth-period goals by Nikos Delagrammatikas and Jordan Hoover helped Cal keep the lead to the final buzzer. The 6 on 5 ultimately proved pivotal in the final result as Cal scored on five of its 11 chances with the man advantage while holding Pepperdine to just two of seven.

Hooper continued his scoring tear since returning from Team USA duty as the senior led Cal with four goals. His impact didn't just come in the scoring column though as he also added six steals and three assists. Simsek recorded his second-straight hat trick, Tzavaras finished with two goals and five assists and Valecic also chipped in with two goals. Bernardo Carelli played the whole match in the cage and made five saves.

Cal now gets a week off from game action before returning to competition on Oct. 12 with the first day of the three-day MPSF Invitational at Stanford. Play returns to Spieker Aquatics Complex on Oct. 20 with a noon match against UC Santa Barbara. And, Cal's annual alumni game will be held immediately following the match against the Gauchos.