IRVINE, Calif. -- UC Irvine has been selected as the top team in The Big West, as voted on by the league’s eight head coaches in a preseason poll.
 
The Anteaters (20-7, 7-0 BW) earned 47 points with five-first place votes after sweeping the conference in the 2023 regular season and championship.
 
The coaches also voted on a seven-person preseason team featuring UC Irvine senior goalkeeper Faith Tedesco and junior center Nioka Thomas. Tedesco was an All-Big West First Team and ACWPC All-America Honorable Mention selection in 2022, before taking a backup role in 2023. Thomas scored 53 goals last season, culminating in an All-Big West First Team and ACWPC All-America Second Team honors. 
 
Hawai'i (21-6, 6-1 BW) was selected to finish second with 42 points and was given one first-place vote. Rainbow Wahine All-American sophomore center Bia Mantellato Dias, the reigning Big West Freshman and Player of the Year with 82 goals, takes a spot on the preseason squad. 
 
Long Beach State is predicted to take third, receiving 40 points and two first-place votes. The Beach is represented by senior center Rachael Kowalchick and sophomore attacker Elisa Portillo on the preseason team. Last year, Portillo led Long Beach State with 55 goals, to go along with 19 assists, culminating in All-Big West First Team, All-Freshman Team and ACWPC All-America Third Team honors. Kowalchick was an All-Big West Second Team and ACWPC All-America Honorable Mention selection last season with a team second-best 52 goals. 
 
UC San Diego (31 points), UC Davis (23), UC Santa Barbara (20), CSUN (13) and Cal State Fullerton (8) round out the rest of the poll. The Cal State Fullerton women’s water polo program is in its second season after the Titan athletics department announced the addition of the sport in the summer of 2022. 
 
UC San Diego junior center Kendall Thomas and CSUN junior center Dorottya Telek fill out the final slots of the preseason squad. Last year, Thomas was an All-Big West Second Team honoree with 56 goals. Telek, a two-time All-Big West and All-America honoree, set a new conference record for goals in a season with 101 in 2023. 
 
The 2024 women's water polo season will start on Friday, Jan. 19 as Cal State Fullerton will host a pair of games against La Verne and San Diego State. The rest of the conference will begin play on Saturday, Jan. 20 at the Beach Invitational, Fresno State Festival or at the UCSB Winter Invite.