REDLANDS, Calif. – Following the University of Redlands Men's Water Polo team's upset win over No. 4 seed Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament Quarterfinals, they will now head to Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) for a 7:00 p.m. game in the semifinals tonight, Friday, November 18.
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Prior Meetings
The Bulldogs won the lone meeting this season, 9-8 (Box Score | Recap), with the No. 1 overall team in the country back at the Gary Troyer Tournament (Oct. 1) when they gave the Sagehens their only loss of the conference season. The game counted as the team's only conference game and was played at Pomona-Pitzer. It was Redlands' first win against the Sagehens since 2016.
In 2021 the Bulldogs and Sagehens also only met once, and it was again a road game for the Bulldogs, as they lost by only three goals. Redlands will rely on their two All-SCIAC performers in Ron Gvishi and Alec Abrahamian. Both were named 2nd Team All-SCIAC.
Gvishi receives the recognition for the first time in his career. He is the Bulldogs' leading scorer with 43 goals and leading assister with 20. He took 86 shots on the season giving him a .500 shooting percentage. He added three drawn exclusions, 27 steals, seven field blocks, and won 25 sprints with a .481 sprint percentage. His 25 sprints won is the sixth most in the conference and his sprint percentage is seventh best. He posted nine multi-goal games and five multi-assist games.
Gvishi won SCIAC Offensive Athlete of the Week back in September following a six-goal, six-assist week against Division I Air Force, and Division II schools Fresno Pacific (FPU) and CUI. He had a massive ten-point game with five goals and five assists in a 22-7 win against FPU.
Abrahamian earns his first All-SCIAC recognition, making the second team after a very strong first season as a Bulldog. He scored 23 goals and posted nine assists. He had a .469 shooting percentage, drew five exclusions, had ten steals, and blocked two shots.
He was also named the SCIAC Offensive Athlete of the Week in November thanks to a seven-goal week that included six goals against Occidental. Abrahamian posted three multi-goal games with a hat trick coming against Concordia University Irvine (CUI) and a brace versus the University of La Verne.
Pomona-Pitzer
The Sagehens have four All-SCIAC members which includes the SCIAC's third leading scorer with 80 goals, and Offensive Athlete of the Year, Sam Sasaki. Sasaki also had 37 assists, fifth most, and 117 points, second most within the conference.
Benjamin Sasaki had 49 goals, 38 assists, fourth most in SCIAC, and had 87 points, which was the ninth most.
On the defensive side, goalkeeper William Byrne led the SCIAC with 249 saves, 55 more than the second place All-SCIAC performer. Byrne also sat third in save percentage at .413 and fifth in goals-against average at 12.81.
The Sagehens will be well rested following a bye, last playing on Saturday when they beat CMS 12-10 at home. Overall, they come in winning their last six games and their last ten against Division III competition with their last loss coming against the University of Redlands.
P-P was first in conference in scoring during league play with 142 goals and tied for the second fewest goals conceded with 109.