History often repeats itself, and the Bruins boast a perfect history against this weekend’s quartet of opponents.

No. 1 UCLA men’s water polo (3-0) will face off against No. 13 California Baptist University (3-1) and George Washington (2-4) at DeNunzio Pool in New Jersey on Friday, which are followed by matchups against No. 3 Fordham (4-0) and Bucknell (1-3) on Saturday.

UCLA has defeated its upcoming Princeton Invitational opponents in all 23 of its previous matchups against them.

“Our hope is this is all a building block – not only for our team but for our preparation as we head into the MPSF Invitational,” coach Adam Wright said. “These are really important games for this process.”

Of the Bruins’ four opponents, the Lancers are their most familiar foe – having met 14 times prior – and the Bruins earned a 19-8 victory against the Lancers last September.

Since that last meeting, however, California Baptist reached the NCAA national tournament, in which it fell to eventual runner-up USC, and its only loss so far this season was a 15-14 battle against No. 7 Irvine.

California Baptist’s offensive leader, attacker Andrea Nuzzo, scored 67 goals in 36 games last year and has notched 12 in his first four outings in 2025. He was blanked in only seven games last season and scored one of the squad’s eight points against the Bruins.

“One of our biggest goals right now is getting our hand on the ball – whether it is me or just shot blocking in general for everyone,” redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Nate Tauscher said.

Despite an 18-2 victory against UC San Diego last weekend, UCLA attempted just five more shots than its opponent, who notched a 0.077 shot percentage. The Lancers on the other hand have a 0.485 shot percentage this season, and George Washington boasts a 0.391 mark, illustrating the importance of the Bruins’ shot blocking.

UCLA’s highest-ranked opponent this weekend is Fordham, a team they last faced in 2019 when the Rams finished with a 24-8 record. But Fordham won 32 games last year, only falling to USC in overtime of the NCAA national tournament semifinals.

This will represent the Bruins’ first match against a top-10 opponent this season – an opponent searching for its first ever win against the defending national champions.

George Washington is riding a four-game losing streak, falling to both UC Davis and UC San Diego – UCLA’s two most recent victories – during this stretch.

Bucknell started the season with three consecutive losses, but the squad mustered its first win of the season last weekend against Iona.

“Each year we have a new group of guys, and it is a great way to see how we all work together,” sophomore utility Bode Brinkema said. “We are treating everything the same, and it is just another year – it is on to the next.”