2024 Big West Women's Water Polo l Schedule | Standings | Stats | 2024 Notes #3 (.pdf)

 What 2 Watch 4 
Six of eight Big West teams (UH, UCI, UCSD, UCSB, LBSU, UCD) will compete in the Triton Invitational, hosted by UC San Diego. Outside of Big West teams, the field is comprised of No. 1 USC, No. 3 UCLA, No. 5 Fresno State, No. 10 Michigan, No. 11 Loyola Marymount, No. 14 Arizona State, No. 22 San Diego State, Concordia and California Baptist.

On Saturday, No. 23 CSUN will go to Redlands for a pair of games against the host Bulldogs and a neutral-site contest against Azusa Pacific.

 Poll Position 
Seven Big West teams are ranked in the latest CWPA national rankings. Hawai’i ranks fourth, while UC Irvine is tied for sixth. UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State, and UC Davis occupy the ninth, 12th, 13th and 16th spots,  respectively. CSUN is placed in 23rd to round out the poll for The Big West.

CWPA Rankings

 Weekly Highlights
Three teams went unbeaten last week in Hawai’i, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara. The Rainbow Wahine hosted the Rainbow Invitational and went 3-0 with wins over No. 9 Princeton (10-6), Azusa Pacific (18-3) and No. 5 Fresno State (9-5). Bernadette Doyle compiled five goals, five assists and seven steals in the tournament, and was subsequently named Big West Player of the Week.

UC San Diego went 2-0 at California Baptist’s Lancer Joust with wins against the host (14-8) and Fresno Pacific (20-6). Kendall Thomas amassed five goals, a steal and a field block in the two wins. UC Santa Barbara also went 2-0 at the Lancer Joust topping No. 18 San Jose State (10-9) and No. 25 Biola (20-5). Annie Kuester had seven goals and four assists for the Gauchos.

 Opening Week Recap 
Three teams went unbeaten in the opening week of play in CSUN, Hawai’i and Long Beach State. Arguably the most impressive performance was the Rainbow Wahine’s win over two-time defending national champion and top-seeded Stanford in overtime, 9-7. Bia Mantellato Dias was subsequently named the Player of the Week after leading Hawai’i to the upset. CSUN’s Dorottya Telek broke the program’s single-game scoring record against California Baptist with nine goals. Notably, UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego went 3-1 at the UCSB Winter Invite.

 Big West Stats Leaders
Goals: Dorottya Telek, CSUN, 23 goals
Assists: Juju Amaral, UC Santa Barbara/Shelby Havanesian, CSUN/Christina Mullane, UC Santa Barbara, 11 assists
Field Blocks: Helena Sandhagen, CSUN, 6 field blocks
Steals: Bernadette Doyle, Hawai'i/Leigh Lyter, UC Santa Barbara, 12 steals
Saves: Annabelle Sherman, Cal State Fullerton, 33 saves

Big West Stats

 Preseason Prognostications 
UC Irvine was 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.  

 2023 Honors 
All-America Second Team

All-America Third Team

All-America Honorable Mention

All-Big West First Team

All-Big West Second Team