16th-ranked Falcons travel to Nor Cal Tournament
9/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
THIS WEEK: No. 16 Air Force (0-4) travels to Palo Alto, Calif., for the annual Nor Cal Tournament, hosted at Stanford University, Sept. 19-20. The Falcons will face No. 6 UC Santa Barbara in the first round on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 12:15 pm PT. The Falcons will play a minimum of four games in the tournament, but the remainder of the schedule will be determined by the outcome of game one.
THE TOURNAMENT FIELD: Nine of the top 10 teams in the nation will be competing at the Nor Cal Tournament, including No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 USC, No. 3 California and No. 4 Stanford.
A LOOK BACK: Air Force was idle last weekend. The Falcons lost four games in the Triton Invitational, Sept. 5-6, all to teams in the top nine in the nation. The Falcons fell to No. 7 UC Santa Barbara (8-7), No. 8 Pepperdine (10-5), No. 5 Pacific (18-9) and to No. 9 UC Irvine (10-8).
TOP SCORERS: Sophomore Garrett Fisk led the Falcons with seven goals and also had one assist and one steal in the four games at the Triton Invitational. Junior Robby Stiefel led the team with nine points on five goals and four assists and had six steals. Riley Thomas tied for the team lead with four assists while Oliver Carter tied for the team lead with six steals. In goal, junior Max Benson had 26 saves while senior Caleb Guarino had 19.
ROAD WARRIORS: Air Force plays the first 12 games on the road. The Falcons first home game is Oct. 3 vs. conference rival UC Davis. Air Force will also host Loyola Marymount (Oct. 16) and Cal Baptist (Oct. 31).
ABOUT THE LEAGUE: There are seven teams in the WWPA this season. Air Force is joined by UC San Diego, who won the league tournament last season, as well as Cal Baptist, Santa Clara, UC Davis, Loyola Marymount and Fresno Pacific. The WWPA Championships will be held at the Air Force Academy, Nov. 20-22.
THE PRESEASON WWPA POLL: In the WWPA preseason coaches' poll, UC Davis was picked to win the league with 33 points, including three first-place votes. Loyola Marymount was picked second with 31 points and three first-place votes. UC San Diego, the 2014 WWPA Champions, was picked third with 29 points and one first-place vote. Air Force was picked fourth (18 points), followed by Santa Clara (16), California Baptist (14) and Fresno Pacific (6).
THE HEAD COACH: Jeff Heidmous, the winningest coach in program history, is in his 23rd season coaching the Air Force water polo team. He coached the team from 1981-1998 and then spent 11 years working as a senior administrator in the Air Force athletic department. He returned as head coach of the Falcons in 2010. During his 22-year coaching tenure at the Academy, Heidmous has posted a 296-282-1 career record. He has led the Falcons to three WWPA titles, including 2012 when Air Force captured its first WWPA Championship since 1994. In 2012, the Falcons posted their best-ever NCAA finish, taking fourth place at the national tournament In 2012, Heidmous was tabbed the WWPA Coach of the Year for the third time in his career.
BEATING RANKED TEAMS: Air Force is looking for its first win over a ranked team this season. The Falcons defeated several ranked teams in 2014. The highest ranked team the Falcons defeated last season was 12th-ranked Loyola-Marymount, 11-9, on Sept. 20, 2014.
