Saturday, October 9
Los Angeles, Calif.
12 pm MT
Air Force Academy
at
Loyola Marymount University
No. 17 Air Force hits road for pair of WWPA games
10/7/2021 10:27:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
This Week: No. 17 Air Force (12-2 overall, 2-0 WWPA) travels to southern California for a pair of conference games on Saturday, Oct. 9. The Falcons face 15th-ranked Loyola Marymount at 11 am PT in Los Angeles and then Biola at 7:30 pm PT in La Mirada.
Racking up W's: Air Force's 12 wins this season are the most of any team in the WWPA and the fifth most in the nation. Only fifth-ranked Cal (14), third-ranked Stanford (13), second ranked UCLA (13) and seventh-ranked Long Beach State (13) have more wins than the Falcons. Air Force's 12 wins are already the most under head coach Ryan Brown and tie as the most since the 2014 team won 15.
Series Records: Air Force and LMU will meet for the 66th time. The Lions hold a 36-29 lead in the series that began in 1980. The teams split a pair of games last season in Los Angeles. Air Force won the WWPA game, 15-13 ot, while LMU won the non-conference game, 18-17 ot. Air Force and Biola meet for the first time.
About the Lions: LMU, ranked 15th in the nation, is 4-9 overall this season. LMU will open conference play against Air Force on Oct. 9. Six of the team's nine losses have come against Top-10 teams. Last weekend, the Lions defeated George Washington (13-8) and ninth-ranked San Jose State (11-10) at home. Blazo Mitrovic leads the team, and is third in the league, with 43 goals and 49 points. Goalie Robert Halligan leads the league with a .523 saves percentage and is second in the league with 148 saves.
About the Eagles: Biola is in its first season in the WWPA. The Eagles are 1-12 overall this season with the lone win coming over Wescliff, 10-7, on Sept. 4. Last weekend, Biola played in the Gary Troyer Tournament, falling to McKendree, Navy, Ottawa and Concordia Irvine. Kenny Wulf leads the team with 22 goals and 32 points in 13 games.
Last Week: Sam Fuller scored five goals and A.J. Kuypers made nine saves to lead No. 20 Air Force to a 15-13 win over ninth-ranked UC San Diego in a WWPA game, Oct. 1, at the Cadet Natatorium. Air Force raced out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter. A pair of goals by Fuller and Grant Snyder put the Falcons up 4-0 in the first four minutes of the game. The Tritons came out in the second quarter with two quick goals to cut the Falcon lead to 7-4. Fuller netted his fourth of the game, but the Tritons answered with two more to cut the AF lead to 8-6. Ian Christie and Gavin Jones scored late in the second as the Falcons had a 10-8 lead at the half. Two more goals by Jones early in the third gave the Falcons a 12-9 lead. Fuller scored with 60 seconds left in the third and then Henry Yavitt batted a ball in for a 14-9 lead early in the fourth. Snyder's third of the game gave the Falcons a 15-10 lead with 5:11 left. The Falcon defense held strong late as the offense managed the clock down the stretch. Snyder finished with a game-high seven points (3-4-7) while Fuller had six points and Jones had five (2-3-5). In addition to his nine saves, Kuypers had three steals.
Best Start in 30 years: Air Force opened the 2021 season with six straight wins, before falling to No. 6 Long Beach State. The six-game winning streak is the longest since the 2008 team won seven in a row at midseason. With wins over MIT and Brown, the Falcons improved to 11-1 overall this season, the best start since 1977. The current 12-2 record ties as the best 14-game record in school history.
Sammy on a Tear: Senior Sam Fuller has been on a tear this season. After opening the season with two assists in the win over Claremont Mudd Scripps, Fuller scored 27 goals in the next eight games and has a goal in 10 of the 14 games this season. He was named the WWPA Player of the Week, Sept. 14, with 11 goals and 15 points in four games in the Inland Empire Classic in Redlands. Against Fresno Pacific, Sept. 18, he had eight goals and one assist. He matched his career high with five goals and six points in the first game against FPU. Fuller matched his career highs of five goals and six points in the win over UCSD. He is second on the team with 34 goals and 49 points and leads the team with seven field blocks.
All-American Grant Snyder: Senior Grant Snyder, a second-team All-American last season, picked up right where he left off last season. Snyder had a career-best nine goals in a season-opening win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. He had 16 goals in the first three games of the season and added seven more at the Inland Empire Tournament. He has scored a goal in all 14 games this season. He has been named the USAFA Athlete of the Week twice, most recently when he scored 18 goals in four games on an eastern road swing. He had five goals in the win over Navy and tied his career best with nine points (5-4-9) in the win over Brown. He leads the team with 48 goals and 65 points. In addition to his scoring, he leads the team with 29 sprint victories, and steals (23) and drawn exclusions (27).
Inside the Numbers: Grant Snyder leads the WWPA in points (65) and steals (23). Snyder is second in the league in goals (48) and sprint wins (29). Snyder is third in the nation in goals, fourth in points, ninth in steals and third in sprint wins. Sam Fuller is second in the league in field blocks (7), third in points (49), sixth in goals (34) and seventh in assists (15). Sophomore Ian Christie is second in the WWPA in assists (25) and is fifth with 19 steals. Freshman Ryan McLaughlin is fourth in the conference in assists (20). Henry Yavitt is fifth in field blocks (5). Anthony Tolbert is fourth in the league in goals-against average (9.06) and saves percentage (.500). A.J. Kuypers is sixth in the WWPA in GAA (10.29) and saves percentage (.457).
2020 WWPA Champions: Air Force won its first ever WWPA regular season championship in 2020 with a perfect 2-0 record in conference play. The Falcons defeated Loyola Marymount, 15-13 in overtime, and Cal Baptist, 15-14, in overtime, in designated conference games. Air Force was the No. 1 seed in the WWPA Tournament for the first time ever, but fell to Cal Baptist, 11-9, in the title game. Air Force finished the season ranked eighth in the nation. The Falcons finished the season with a 4-7 overall record.
Racking up W's: Air Force's 12 wins this season are the most of any team in the WWPA and the fifth most in the nation. Only fifth-ranked Cal (14), third-ranked Stanford (13), second ranked UCLA (13) and seventh-ranked Long Beach State (13) have more wins than the Falcons. Air Force's 12 wins are already the most under head coach Ryan Brown and tie as the most since the 2014 team won 15.
Series Records: Air Force and LMU will meet for the 66th time. The Lions hold a 36-29 lead in the series that began in 1980. The teams split a pair of games last season in Los Angeles. Air Force won the WWPA game, 15-13 ot, while LMU won the non-conference game, 18-17 ot. Air Force and Biola meet for the first time.
About the Lions: LMU, ranked 15th in the nation, is 4-9 overall this season. LMU will open conference play against Air Force on Oct. 9. Six of the team's nine losses have come against Top-10 teams. Last weekend, the Lions defeated George Washington (13-8) and ninth-ranked San Jose State (11-10) at home. Blazo Mitrovic leads the team, and is third in the league, with 43 goals and 49 points. Goalie Robert Halligan leads the league with a .523 saves percentage and is second in the league with 148 saves.
About the Eagles: Biola is in its first season in the WWPA. The Eagles are 1-12 overall this season with the lone win coming over Wescliff, 10-7, on Sept. 4. Last weekend, Biola played in the Gary Troyer Tournament, falling to McKendree, Navy, Ottawa and Concordia Irvine. Kenny Wulf leads the team with 22 goals and 32 points in 13 games.
Last Week: Sam Fuller scored five goals and A.J. Kuypers made nine saves to lead No. 20 Air Force to a 15-13 win over ninth-ranked UC San Diego in a WWPA game, Oct. 1, at the Cadet Natatorium. Air Force raced out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter. A pair of goals by Fuller and Grant Snyder put the Falcons up 4-0 in the first four minutes of the game. The Tritons came out in the second quarter with two quick goals to cut the Falcon lead to 7-4. Fuller netted his fourth of the game, but the Tritons answered with two more to cut the AF lead to 8-6. Ian Christie and Gavin Jones scored late in the second as the Falcons had a 10-8 lead at the half. Two more goals by Jones early in the third gave the Falcons a 12-9 lead. Fuller scored with 60 seconds left in the third and then Henry Yavitt batted a ball in for a 14-9 lead early in the fourth. Snyder's third of the game gave the Falcons a 15-10 lead with 5:11 left. The Falcon defense held strong late as the offense managed the clock down the stretch. Snyder finished with a game-high seven points (3-4-7) while Fuller had six points and Jones had five (2-3-5). In addition to his nine saves, Kuypers had three steals.
Best Start in 30 years: Air Force opened the 2021 season with six straight wins, before falling to No. 6 Long Beach State. The six-game winning streak is the longest since the 2008 team won seven in a row at midseason. With wins over MIT and Brown, the Falcons improved to 11-1 overall this season, the best start since 1977. The current 12-2 record ties as the best 14-game record in school history.
Sammy on a Tear: Senior Sam Fuller has been on a tear this season. After opening the season with two assists in the win over Claremont Mudd Scripps, Fuller scored 27 goals in the next eight games and has a goal in 10 of the 14 games this season. He was named the WWPA Player of the Week, Sept. 14, with 11 goals and 15 points in four games in the Inland Empire Classic in Redlands. Against Fresno Pacific, Sept. 18, he had eight goals and one assist. He matched his career high with five goals and six points in the first game against FPU. Fuller matched his career highs of five goals and six points in the win over UCSD. He is second on the team with 34 goals and 49 points and leads the team with seven field blocks.
All-American Grant Snyder: Senior Grant Snyder, a second-team All-American last season, picked up right where he left off last season. Snyder had a career-best nine goals in a season-opening win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. He had 16 goals in the first three games of the season and added seven more at the Inland Empire Tournament. He has scored a goal in all 14 games this season. He has been named the USAFA Athlete of the Week twice, most recently when he scored 18 goals in four games on an eastern road swing. He had five goals in the win over Navy and tied his career best with nine points (5-4-9) in the win over Brown. He leads the team with 48 goals and 65 points. In addition to his scoring, he leads the team with 29 sprint victories, and steals (23) and drawn exclusions (27).
Inside the Numbers: Grant Snyder leads the WWPA in points (65) and steals (23). Snyder is second in the league in goals (48) and sprint wins (29). Snyder is third in the nation in goals, fourth in points, ninth in steals and third in sprint wins. Sam Fuller is second in the league in field blocks (7), third in points (49), sixth in goals (34) and seventh in assists (15). Sophomore Ian Christie is second in the WWPA in assists (25) and is fifth with 19 steals. Freshman Ryan McLaughlin is fourth in the conference in assists (20). Henry Yavitt is fifth in field blocks (5). Anthony Tolbert is fourth in the league in goals-against average (9.06) and saves percentage (.500). A.J. Kuypers is sixth in the WWPA in GAA (10.29) and saves percentage (.457).
2020 WWPA Champions: Air Force won its first ever WWPA regular season championship in 2020 with a perfect 2-0 record in conference play. The Falcons defeated Loyola Marymount, 15-13 in overtime, and Cal Baptist, 15-14, in overtime, in designated conference games. Air Force was the No. 1 seed in the WWPA Tournament for the first time ever, but fell to Cal Baptist, 11-9, in the title game. Air Force finished the season ranked eighth in the nation. The Falcons finished the season with a 4-7 overall record.
Players Mentioned
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