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15
Winner Biola BU (0)
12
Fresno Pacific FPU (0)
Winner
Biola BU
(0)
15
Final
12
Fresno Pacific FPU
(0)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Biola BU 3 4 4 4 15
Fresno Pacific FPU 2 4 3 3 12
Micah Hernandez
Ben Sonneland

Game Recap: Men's Water Polo |

1-0

Biola Men's Water Polo outlasts FPU to win WWPA Opener

FRESNO, Calif. --- Under the lights and in front of a lively crowd representing both sides, Biola Men's Water Polo opened Western Water Polo Association play Friday night with the kind of steady performance needed to survive a rivalry game.

The Eagles never trailed in a thrilling 15-12 victory over Fresno Pacific, improving to 1-0 in conference play and 7-13 overall. It was a tick back into the positive direction for this Biola team, which had a five-match winning streak against the Sunbirds from 2023 through October 2025 but lost it to Fresno Pacific last November. Friday's result moved the Eagles to 8-3 in the all-time series.

Noah Ryznar provided the early spark and another milestone performance in a breakout sophomore season.

Ryznar scored just 1:25 into the match and added a five-meter conversion later in the opening quarter as Biola built a 3-2 advantage. That first strike was also career goal No. 100 for Ryznar, who entered Friday with 99 between his freshman season and the first 19 matches of 2026.

He was far from finished.

Ryznar completed his hat trick early in the second quarter and eventually finished with five goals on eight shots, giving him 68 this season and 104 for his career. The 68-goal campaign now ranks third in Biola's single-season record book, passing John Grasso's 66 from 2024. Ryznar sits only two behind Roman Saroyan's 70 and eight shy of Maxwell Osborn's program single-season record of 76.

Biola's steadiness went well beyond its leading scorer.

The Eagles scored three times in the first quarter and then exactly four goals in each of the final three periods. Landon Heuer scored twice in the second, while Gavin Starling and Micah Hernandez also finished with two goals apiece. Eight Eagles found the cage as Biola converted 15 of 24 shots (.625) in the game. They were aggressive with their ball movement, finding many open looks from near the posts. It's the third time this season that Biola converted on at least 60 percent of its shots.

"Anything above 50 percent is a win for us, but anything above 60, getting into the 70 range, is just really efficient offense," said head coach Jens Cole. "We've been talking a lot about playing for the right percentages and understanding opportunities, being disciplined to execute, but also disciplined to wait sometimes for the next best opportunity. We were 7-for-10 on man-up opportunities, so offensively we were really humming on all cylinders."

Fresno Pacific erased a three-goal deficit to tie the match 8-8 midway through the third, but Biola answered with three of the period's final four goals to carry an 11-9 lead into the fourth.

The Sunbirds made one final charge, trimming Biola's advantage to 12-11 with 3:04 remaining. Head Coach Jens Cole's Eagles never blinked.

Ryznar converted another five-meter attempt just 22 seconds later. Starling struck with 1:56 remaining, and then after FPU answered, freshman Carson Crocket responded to restore the three-goal cushion and effectively seal the match. Biola's four-goal fourth quarter provided the separation despite a physical contest that saw 11 exclusions called against each team.

Freshman goalkeeper Maddox Levandusky went the distance in the cage, making eight saves.

"Maddox was awesome," Cole said. "That was really his first true start and his first time truly commanding a game this season. He's been doing it in practice and has earned his right to play, and he did really well."

"Defensively, I think we just gave them too many man-up opportunities," Cole said. "We got a little undisciplined on defense and allowed them to stay in the game. But we did a good job of finding a way to be successful. I'm super proud of the group. We had a lot of guys contribute. It was an overall team effort."

Biola's conference road swing continues Saturday when the Eagles travel to UC Merced for a 2 p.m. matchup at the UC Merced Aquatics Center.
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