WHITTIER, Calif. (Nov. 16, 2024) – Keyed by collective team performance, the Whittier College men's water polo team defeated Chapman University on Senior Day, finishing the 2024 season on a two-game winning streak against two teams bound for the SCIAC Postseason Tournament (the other being first-place Pomona-Pitzer Colleges).
However, due to the Poets coming out on the short-end of a three-way tiebreaker with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges and California Lutheran University, they will miss the SCIAC Tournament despite finishing with a 7-5 record in conference play.
Prior to the game, Whittier celebrated its four senior players:
Jackson Chamberlain (Greenwich, Conn. / Avon Old Farms),
Cardin Chavez (University Place, Wash. / Curtis / Westcliff University),
Relja Mitic (Nis, Serbia / Grammar School Stevan Sremac / Concordia University Irvine), and
Kenshiro Matsuzawa (Chiba, Japan / Yachiyo / St. Francis Brooklyn), each of which have had a unique experience while offering unique contributions to the men's water polo program over the years.
With a win over first-place Pomona-Pitzer under their belts, the Poets had no problem setting the tone against Chapman on Saturday. Freshman
Zander Huynh (Irvine, Calif. / Beckman) got things started with an early goal, and from there, classmate
Zander Montoya (La Verne, Calif. / Damien) scored twice on five-meter penalty shots. More importantly, however, the Poets showed they could score with finesse as well as power, and take advantage of opportunities afforded to them by the opponent.
The Poets looked primed to pull away after outscoring the Panthers, 6-3, over the final period. However, the Panthers, a team bound for the SCIAC Tournament themselves, put the pedal to the metal late and scored the game-tying goal with just two seconds to go to force overtime. In the extra periods, Whittier jumped out to a two-goal advantage with both tallies coming courtesy of freshman
Evan Borunda (Whittier, Calif. / La Serna). Huynh added an insurance goal in the second overtime period, and the Poets were ultimately able to avoid sudden-death against a tough Chapman team. Three players ended the game with three goals, including Borunda, and fellow freshmen
Ivan Cubelic (Split, Croatia / Solaris) and
Noah Bigara (Cape Town, South Africa / Pinnacle Schools).
Though the Poets will come up short of the SCIAC Tournament in 2024, the team experienced a historic turnaround under Head Coach
Preslav Djippov. Djippov changed the team's fortunes with a supremely talented recruiting class decorated with talented freshman each with unique skills that lent to a winning water polo team. The Poets are also the only SCIAC team this year to hit 20 wins in all competitions. With another talented crop of recruits set to join the team in 2024, Djippov's Poets have seemingly arrived as a SCIAC Tournament contender in the coming years.
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