Dec. 2, 2010

For the eighth time in 10 years, LMU is back in the National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championship as the representative of the Western Water Polo Association. The 2010 version is their fourth straight as the Lions have been seeded third and will face tournament host and second seed Cal on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 3 p.m. The tournament will conclude on Sunday with the consolation final at 1 p.m., followed by the national championship at 3 p.m. All games can be seen on NCAA.com.

LIONS ALL-ACCESS MULTIMEDIA CENTER
Get complete in-depth information on the Lions' trip to the NCAA tournament:
All-Access Preview • Interactive Weekly Release • Interactive Yearbook • Postseason Guide in PDF

INSIDE THE LIONS
The eighth-ranked Lions enter the NCAA tournament winners of 11 of their last 12 to win the 2010 WWPA Championship with a 9-6 win over then No. 12 UC Davis. The Lions have improved to 19-8 overall, and finish 16-1 against the WWPA. The Lions season is once again grounded by their defense. Led by WWPA Player of the Year Ikaika Aki and first-team All-WWPA goalie Andy Stevens, the Lions have allowed just 5.94 goals per game in 2010, among the nation's leaders. Aki provides big help in front of the net for Stevens, adding 31 field blocks, 62 steals and spear-heading the offense with a team-best 43 assists. If it does get by the defenders in front, Stevens is the all-time leader in saves with 1,195 in his career, knocking down 268 this season. As for offense, the Lions are led by first-team All-WWPA selection Edgaras Asajavicius with 52 goals. The junior has scored 23 goals in the last 11 games for the Lions. Senior Tibor Forai is second with 45 goals on the season.

POSTSEASON
For the eighth time in the last 10 years, the LMU men's water polo team will be representing the Western Water Polo Association in the National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championship. On Sunday night, the NCAA released the bracket for the 2010 Championship to be held at Cal and the Lions have earned the No. 3 seed and will face No. 2 Cal. Action will start on Saturday, Dec. 4, and LMU will be featured in game two. The second game will match the Bears (23-3) taking on the Lions (19-8) at 3 p.m. In the first game, the University of Southern California (26-2) will play St. Francis College (New York) (24-3) at 1 p.m. On Sunday, the third-place game will be played at 1 p.m. Pacific time, December 5, with the championship game at 3 p.m. Pacific time. The national championship game will be streamed live on www.NCAA.com. Conferences receiving automatic qualification included the: Collegiate Water Polo Association (St. Francis), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (USC) and the Western Water Polo Association, which the Lions won for the fourth straight year and for the eighth time in the past decade. The remaining team was selected at-large (Cal) without geographical restrictions. LMU played at Cal on Nov. 4 and fell 11-2. The Lions faced USC at the Burns Center on Sept. 12, and fell 10-5. LMU has only played St. Francis four times in school history, splitting the two meetings. They have not played since 2005.

IN THE TOURNEY The Lions are 5-9 in the NCAA postseason as they face the tournament host for the fifth time in eight trips. In addition, three of the last four semifinals have ended in a one-goal set-back for the Lions.

AGAINST THE WWPA
The Lions opened the season at 6-0 against teams from the WWPA, running their unbeaten streak to 37 games against the conference. They went 14-0 in 2009, 11-0 in 2008 and won their last six in 2007 to win back-to-back-to-back titles. The last setback was to Santa Clara on Oct. 26, 2007, 8-7 in overtime. The streak ended at 37 with a 7-6 setback to UC San Diego in the final game of the SoCal Invitational on Oct. 3, 2010. They have since rattled off 10 straight, giving them 48 wins in the last 49 WWPA games, including their fourth straight conference crown, and eighth in the last decade.