As the 2024 season commences, the Bruins will kick off as the nation’s top placeholders.

No. 1 UCLA men’s water polo returns to competitive waters for the 2024 season with a match against No. 11 UC Santa Barbara at the Triton Invitational on Friday. The Bruins have defeated the Gauchos in their last 18 games, allowing only one loss in program history.

The Bruin’s match against the Gauchos isn’t the only contest lined up for the weekend. UCLA will also face off against Concordia University Irvine, RV Pomona-Pitzer and No. 12 UC San Diego.

“We always want to put forward our best game, no matter who we’re playing,” said graduate student goalkeeper Garret Griggs. “We want to focus on starting out the season strong, doing what we need to do.”

Last season, the Bruins led the nation in total wins, remaining victorious in all but three of their games. The team wrapped up its season at the NCAA finals with a loss against the three-time reigning champion California.

UCLA’s roster is updated with eight incoming freshman and graduate student center Aaron Voggenthaler, who transferred to UCLA after spending three seasons at UC Davis. With the Aggies, Voggenthaler rolled in a collective 42 goals during his last season.

Sophomore utility Ben Liechty said he feels assured about the new arrivals and the team’s level of performance.

“I’m super excited for the beginning of this season. I think we added a lot of people that could help us win and be better, or be as good as we were last year,” Liechty said. “We’re getting better every day with each training.”

A new brotherly duo in redshirt junior attacker Chase Dodd and freshman utility Ryder Dodd will debut for UCLA this season – both sporting Olympic bronze medals. Chase, the older Dodd, has been a member of the U.S. men’s water polo national team for the past three years, placing sixth with the squad in 2022 and ninth in 2024 at World Championships. Ryder, the younger Dodd brother, has been a member of Team USA for two years.

With a slew of games approaching, Griggs said it’s the perfect learning opportunity for the new players.

“You’ve got to have a lot more preparation that goes into it when you’re playing multiple teams and multiple games in one day,” Griggs said. “But I think it’s good for a lot of the guys that haven’t gotten that experience to play, to be able to see this is different compared to just playing one game on the weekends and how you have to prepare differently for that.”

The Bruins will face the opportunity to extend their winning streak against the Gauchos and claim their first win of the 2024 regular season.