This past weekend the University of Redlands men's water polo team served as host while competing in the annual Inland Empire Classic. The Bulldogs opened and closed the two-day event with victories, while facing a slew of tough competitors from all NCAA divisions and the NAIA.  The team kicked off the tournament with an impressive showing against Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) foe Caltech and then eventually notched a solid showing over NAIA opponent Vanguard University.

In the Maroon and Gray's first victory on Sept. 10, Redlands easily took down the Beavers of Caltech by a score of 24-5. Eleven different Bulldogs collected a netter, including eight players with a multi-goal performance. Freshman center Tommy Hartwig (Vista, CA) headlined the outing by posting a career-high and team season-best six scores.

Redlands collected its second win in the final match of the tournament by defeating Vanguard University, 11-7.  Senior center Blake vanHartesvelt (Mercer Island, WA), along with senior drivers Jeff Parsons (Newark, CA) and Cabot Ferrill (Poway, CA), found the back of the net on multiple occasions, accounting for more than half of UR's goals.  

 The Bulldogs also suffered losses to NCAA Division I opponents UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis as well as NAIA competitor Concordia University-Irvine.

Overall, the squad now owns a 3-7 record and faces off against the US Naval Academy in its next competition on Sept. 18 at 9 a.m. in Claremont.  Redlands also takes on MIT that day, hitting the waters at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps' pool at 2:15 p.m.