Water polo loses to Pepperdine

Sophomore Jeff Colyer scored three goals on Tuesday in the water polo team's 11-7 loss to Pepperdine. The Waves were paced by Alex Rodriguez and Christian Jensen, who tied for the team lead with three points each.

Pepperdine prevailed in the match, at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool in Malibu, despite a spirited performance by Cal State Long Beach goalie Adam Lee.

Lee, a 6-foot-4-inch senior, had 9 saves. The Northern California native held the Waves to 10 goals, and only one of those a two-pointer. The 49ers have now lost four consecutive games, but are still ranked 11th nationally.

Colyer made the first goal for the 49ers with 3:15 to play in the first quarter of the match. Pepperdine then scored four unanswered goals. The No. 7 Waves kept their lead the rest of the game. With 5:27 left in the fourth quarter 49er Adam Collins scored a two-point goal.

"We're a very young team, with mostly 1st- and 2nd-year players," CSULB Coach Ken Lindgren said. "We are still practicing our defense, and have had very little time to concentrate on our offensive game."

The 49ers have seven new players this year, five freshmen and two juniors, whose lack of experience was exploited by the host Waves.

Next up for the 49ers -- a pair of games Saturday at the CSULB pool. The Beach must face No. 18 Santa Clara at noon, then deal with Occidental three hours later. These will be the team's first matches with these schools in Coach Lindgren's 22-year stint at CSULB.