Winners of at least a share of three of the past four SCIAC regular season titles, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges lead the race in the 2025 SCIAC Men’s Water Polo Preseason Poll, as voted by the league’s head coaches.
Sophomores
Zach Whitfield and
Miles Chiang made the All-Conference First and Second Team, respectively, under the tutelage of Coaching Staff of the Year winner
Alex Rodriguez. The Sagehens’ balanced attack helped them to a 10-2 SCIAC record that split top billing in the conference with the University of Redlands.
Jacob Shimon will look to claim goalkeeper duties after posting a .532 save percentage in limited action as a junior.
A year removed also from sharing top conference honors with Redlands, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges are seen as their Sixth Street rivals’ strongest opposition. The Stags’ pair of former Newcomer of the Year stars,
Nick Kennedy and
Luke “Bear” Weigle, have one more season together after earning five First Team All-SCIAC honors in as many chances. The duo combined for 109 goals last season, with Weigle shooting .711 and drawing 58 exclusions while Kennedy dished out 35 assists.
USA Water Polo Collegiate national runner-up Chapman University went down to the host Bulldogs in a thrilling 14-13 battle last fall. A breakout from
Davin Castillo, who joined Whitfield as one of just two sophomores to make the First Team, is the top returner in the field while
Jackson Sanders made 269 saves, including a program-record 21 in an overtime game.
An eight-man rotation made up the top end of the Redlands squad last year and delivered with a second shared SCIAC regular season title and national championship.
Harrison DeCourcy and classmate
Brody Nielsen could be the new team leaders after potting 19 and 14 goals, respectively. Closely trailing the Bulldogs in fifth, California Lutheran University also has the bulk of its offensive production to replace. At least two returners appear to be strong candidates for improvement as
Levi Cook ranked third on the team with 67 points primarily facilitating the offense to the tune of 43 assists while
Ethan Guereca was a force in the hole set with 55 drawn exclusions.
The rookie trio of Newcomer of the Year
Noah Bigara and Second Team All-SCIAC selections
Lorenzo Angelucci and
Zander Montoya led a dangerous new-look Whittier College squad last fall. University of La Verne’s
Robert Echeverria has shed the interim title and brings in 14 newcomers to mix in behind returning points leader
Jordan Baker. Second Team All-SCIAC pick
Travis Hughes is back to carry Occidental College while Caltech welcomes back nearly its entire squad, including 2023 All-SCIAC honoree
Bram Schork.
2025 SCIAC Men’s Water Polo Preseason Poll
1. Pomona-Pitzer, 78 points (six first-place votes)
2. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 69 pts (1)
3. Chapman, 58 pts (2)
4. Redlands, 50 pts
5. California Lutheran, 46 pts
6. Whittier, 40 pts
7. La Verne, 32 pts
8. Occidental, 23 pts
9. Caltech, 9 pts
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