SPORTSCOPE : Waves, Bruins to Clash in Featured Match of Water Polo Tournament

The Pepperdine water polo team will play host to UCLA in the featured match of the John Wasko Tournament at 2 p.m. Sunday at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool on the Malibu campus.

Tournament matches begin at 7 a.m. and continue through the evening on Saturday and Sunday. In morning matches on opening day, Pepperdine meets the Air Force Academy at 7, Claremont faces Annapolis at 8:10 and UCLA goes against UC San Diego at 9:20.

The Waves, defending champions in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn., have five returning starters, including junior Sasa Poljak, the team’s top scorer with 83 goals and the PCAA player of the year. Other Pepperdine veterans are Robbie Boyer, Aaron Chasen, Rafael Gandarillas and goalkeeper Juan Carlos Garay.

The Bruins, who finished third in the nation last year, are paced by two-time All-American driver Fernando Carsalade and second-team All-American sophomore Alex Rousseau, who led UCLA in scoring as a freshman.

The UCLA men’s soccer team, ranked ninth nationally and 2-0 this season, will play in the Nevada Las Vegas/Adidas tournament Friday and Saturday.

The Bruins open Friday against Southern Methodist and face Air Force on Saturday.

Last Sunday UCLA won at home, defeating Nevada Las Vegas, 2-0. The Bruins were led by seniors Jeff Hooker and Shaun Del Grande, who each scored a goal, and by sophomore goalie Anton Nistl, who had four saves and recorded his 12th career shutout.

The No. 19 Pepperdine women’s volleyball team, which won its opener by outlasting No. 12 UC Santa Barbara in five games, will play host to an alumni squad at 3 p.m. Saturday and to No. 9 San Diego State at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Firestone Fieldhouse.

In the come-from-behind win in the opener, senior outside hitter Julie Evans led the Waves with 32 kills.

Pepperdine Coach Nine Matthies said that the way the Waves won “set a positive tone for our season. We needed that win for our confidence.”

The No. 5 UCLA women’s volleyball team, which captured its opening match in four games at San Diego State, is on the road again this weekend, meeting Hawaii in non-conference matches on Friday and Saturday.

Senior middle blocker Stacy Buck led the Bruins over the Aztecs, tying her career-best mark for kills with 19 and setting a career high of 9 blocks.

The UCLA men’s and women’s cross-country teams will hold their annual invitational meet Sunday on campus. The women’s race will start at 5:15 p.m. and the men’s race will follow.

Teams expected to take part are Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State Northridge, Loyola Marymount, Mount St. Mary’s, Cal Poly Pomona, UC Irvine and Mira Costa junior college.

UCLA Coach Bob Larsen’s men are led by Victor Santa Maria, who finished 26th in last year’s District VIII meet. Coach Bob Messina’s women, who won the school’s first District VIII meet in history last year and finished 11th in the NCAA meet, are paced by sophomore Laurie Chapman, who finished second in the Pac-10 Conference meet last season.