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California Golden Bears Athletics
Photo by: Catharyn Hayne/klcfotos
Bears Open NCAA Championship Against UCLA
12/2/2021 4:00 PM | Men's Water Polo
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Cal Looks For 15th National Title In Los Angeles
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
AT SPIEKER AQUATICS CENTER, LOS ANGELES, CALIF.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4
CAL (20-4) VS. UCLA (20-3) | 4 P.M. PT
LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5 (IF WIN SATURDAY)
CAL vs. USC/UC Davis, 2 P.M. PT
LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
BEARS AND THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Cal has the most NCAA championships in history with 14, the most recent title coming in 2016. The Bears have made 31 NCAA appearances overall, including last season when they advanced to the semifinals.
CAL WINS MPSF REGULAR SEASON TITLE
The Bears won the MPSF regular season championship this season with a perfect 3-0 record. Cal beat USC on the road 7-6, Stanford at home 12-10 in overtime and then defeated UCLA 16-9 on the season's final day to wrap up the crown.
RANKINGS REPORT
Cal rose to No. 1 in the CWPA national poll for two weeks this season. The Bears began the season at No. 3 and that's how they enter the NCAA Championship. Cal has been ranked in the top-5 all season.
BEARS SWEEP MPSF POSTSEASON AWARDS
Cal registered the first MPSF postseason awards sweep in 13 years, with junior Nikolaos Papanikolaou repeating as conference Player of the Year, head coach Kirk Everist doing the same as MPSF Coach of the Year and freshman Roberto Valera earning conference Newcomer of the Year honors. Papanikolaou became the fifth MPSF player ever to win back-to-back conference Player of the Year awards while Everist took the Coach of the Year honor in consecutive years for the fourth time in MPSF history. It was Everist's third conference honor overall. Valera is Cal's fifth Newcomer of the Year in history. He also set an MPSF record by winning the conference Newcomer of the Week award five times during the regular season.
CAL LEADS ALL-MPSF TEAM
The Bears had the most All-MPSF selections this season with seven, as Nikolaos Papanikolaou and senior Jack Deely were picked to the First Team, graduate student Nikos Delagrammatikas and junior Adrian Weinberg earned Second Team honors while senior Miles O'Brien-Schridde and freshmen Roberto Valera and Max Casabella garnered honorable mention.
EVERIST REACHES MILESTONE
Cal head coach Kirk Everist registered his 400th career win on Sept. 18 when the Bears defeated San Jose State at the Aggie Shootout. Now in his 20th season leading the Cal program, Everist has a career record of 411-127. Everist has led the Bears to three NCAA titles, most recently in 2016. Everist was a three-time All-American as a player for Cal and went on to play for Team USA twice in the Summer Olympics.
BIG PAPA
Junior center Nikolaos Papanikolaou is arguably the most unstoppable force in the college game. The MPSF Player of the Year for the second straight season, Papanikolaou leads the MPSF with 64 goals and 32 steals while also drawing a whopping 98 exclusions, including 10 during Cal's 14-13 win over No. 6 UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 17, which is the most in a game this season by an MPSF player. He is also tied for the most goals scored in a game this season by an MPSF player with seven.
UCLA-CAL NOTES
AT SPIEKER AQUATICS CENTER, LOS ANGELES, CALIF.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4
CAL (20-4) VS. UCLA (20-3) | 4 P.M. PT
LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5 (IF WIN SATURDAY)
CAL vs. USC/UC Davis, 2 P.M. PT
LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
BEARS AND THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Cal has the most NCAA championships in history with 14, the most recent title coming in 2016. The Bears have made 31 NCAA appearances overall, including last season when they advanced to the semifinals.
CAL WINS MPSF REGULAR SEASON TITLE
The Bears won the MPSF regular season championship this season with a perfect 3-0 record. Cal beat USC on the road 7-6, Stanford at home 12-10 in overtime and then defeated UCLA 16-9 on the season's final day to wrap up the crown.
RANKINGS REPORT
Cal rose to No. 1 in the CWPA national poll for two weeks this season. The Bears began the season at No. 3 and that's how they enter the NCAA Championship. Cal has been ranked in the top-5 all season.
BEARS SWEEP MPSF POSTSEASON AWARDS
Cal registered the first MPSF postseason awards sweep in 13 years, with junior Nikolaos Papanikolaou repeating as conference Player of the Year, head coach Kirk Everist doing the same as MPSF Coach of the Year and freshman Roberto Valera earning conference Newcomer of the Year honors. Papanikolaou became the fifth MPSF player ever to win back-to-back conference Player of the Year awards while Everist took the Coach of the Year honor in consecutive years for the fourth time in MPSF history. It was Everist's third conference honor overall. Valera is Cal's fifth Newcomer of the Year in history. He also set an MPSF record by winning the conference Newcomer of the Week award five times during the regular season.
CAL LEADS ALL-MPSF TEAM
The Bears had the most All-MPSF selections this season with seven, as Nikolaos Papanikolaou and senior Jack Deely were picked to the First Team, graduate student Nikos Delagrammatikas and junior Adrian Weinberg earned Second Team honors while senior Miles O'Brien-Schridde and freshmen Roberto Valera and Max Casabella garnered honorable mention.
EVERIST REACHES MILESTONE
Cal head coach Kirk Everist registered his 400th career win on Sept. 18 when the Bears defeated San Jose State at the Aggie Shootout. Now in his 20th season leading the Cal program, Everist has a career record of 411-127. Everist has led the Bears to three NCAA titles, most recently in 2016. Everist was a three-time All-American as a player for Cal and went on to play for Team USA twice in the Summer Olympics.
BIG PAPA
Junior center Nikolaos Papanikolaou is arguably the most unstoppable force in the college game. The MPSF Player of the Year for the second straight season, Papanikolaou leads the MPSF with 64 goals and 32 steals while also drawing a whopping 98 exclusions, including 10 during Cal's 14-13 win over No. 6 UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 17, which is the most in a game this season by an MPSF player. He is also tied for the most goals scored in a game this season by an MPSF player with seven.
UCLA-CAL NOTES
- Bears are 2-0 against the Bruins this season, including a 16-9 victory in the final game of the regular season
- Cal's other victory over UCLA was 10-9 in the semifinals of the MPSF Invitational
- Both of the Bears' victories over the Bruins this season came in Berkeley
Players Mentioned
ATT
/ Men's Water Polo
UTIL
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
A
/ Men's Water Polo
C
/ Men's Water Polo
ATT
/ Men's Water Polo
GK
/ Men's Water PoloThursday, October 05
Thursday, October 20
Thursday, June 23
