The Monmouth men's water polo team could reap the rewards next weekend of a tough home tournament this weekend.

The Scots travel to Erie, Pa., Nov. 4-5 for the season-ending CWPA Tournament after a weekend battling scholarship schools at Monmouth's Pepper Natatorium. Monmouth dropped a 14-9 decision to Mercyhurst in their opener Saturday afternoon. The visitors took a 4-3 first quarter lead and gradually pulled away.

Monmouth put on a late scoring barrage in Saturday's nightcap, but couldn't overcome Salem International's lead in a 22-12 loss. Kurt Holzer erupted for three, fourth quarter goals to finish with a team-high four scores.

Sunday's final match went to McKendree which handled the Scots 17-11 – the same margin as the teams' season-opener in Lebanon. McKendree opened a 5-1 first period lead before the Scots closed the gap to 6-4 on goals by Julius Bradsfield, Jake Hall and Alex Altamirano, but that would be as close at the Scots would get in the tournament finale. Bradsfield paced the Scots' scoring on the weekend with 11 goals, two ahead of Jake Hall.

The pairings for the upcoming tournament in Pennsylvania will be set later in the week.