2025 Big West Women's Water Polo Awards
The Big West proudly boasts its women's water polo major award winners and all-conference selections one week ahead of the 2025 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship. Our awards and teams were voted on by the conference's eight head coaches.
Bernadette Doyle of Hawai'i wears The Big West Player of the Year distinction after recording 53 goals, 38 assists (91 points), 43 drawn exclusions, 13 field blocks, and a conference best 51 steals. In league play, Doyle dished out a UH high in points with 37 alongside 19 tallies and a team-best 19 assists. The Aukland, New Zealand native's 2.1 steals per game lead the league while also ranking No. 3 in assists per game at 1.6. This is the third straight season a member of the Rainbow Wahine has been recognized as the Player of the Year and seventh recipient in program history.
Éma Vernoux has earned the Big West Freshman of the Year award following an impressive season that saw the first-year player finish with the third-most tallies in the league with 75. As the top overall goal scorer for UH, Vernoux found the back of the net six times in against Arizona State and posted a career-best eight points (4 goals, 4 assists) in a non-conference clash against UC Irvine. The Marseille, France native is the fourth UH player in the last five years (sixth overall) to find themselves as the Freshman of the Year.
James Robinson claimed Big West Coach of the Year during the first year at the helm of Hawai'i. After serving as associate head coach for two seasons, Robinson aided the Rainbow Wahine to a 21-4 season including an unblemished 7-0 mark in Big West battles. The Rainbow Wahine won The Big West's regular season and Championship in back-to-back seasons. Overall, UH downed 18 nationally ranked opponents this year including a staple 8-5 victory versus UCLA this season which helped the team remain No. 3 in the nation for seven straight weeks sparking an eight-game win streak. UH swept the major award category (Player and Freshman of the Year) and had student-athletes win Big West Player of the Week six times under Robinson's watch in 2025.
Joining fellow UH teammates in the first team list is 2025 Big West Tournament MVP Daisy Logtens. The netminder managed to finish atop the conference in goals-against average at an astounding 9.02 mark alongside 59 total saves, which qualify as third most in The Big West. During the Championship Final against LBSU, Logtens fell just one stop away of the sophomore's career high with 14 saves. Overall, the goalkeeper turned away 25 shots on the team's journey to the national tournament.
A duo of Long Beach State attackers also earned first team status in Martina Cardona and Elisa Portillo. The pairing of Cardona (70) and Portillo (67) place fourth and fifth in The Big West with the most goals scored, respectively. Cardona (103) and Portillo (109) were two of five players to put together over 100 points during the 2025 campaign. This is the first nod on the All-Big West first team for both student athletes. LBSU capped off the season as the runner's-up after beating CSUN 22-8 in the quarterfinals and edging UC Irvine 12-11 for a spot in the Championship Final.
Another duo dots the first team list, this time representing UC San Diego with Caroline Christl and Kendall Thomas. Christl led the Tritons with 92 goals on the year which also accounted as second best in the league standings while Thomas saw 58 shots go through the net. Both representatives were rewarded Big West Player of the Week with Chistil claiming the award twice within a month's span (Feb. 12 & March 5) and Thomas taking home the honor during the final week of the regular season on April 23. This is the first time Thomas has been named All-Big West while Christl collected first team honors in 2023 and earned a second team nod last season.
Last season's Freshman of the Year, Lauren Hett was also tapped to the first team. Hett scored a UC Irvine high 20 times in conference play of the sophomore's 67 scores this season.
The second team consists of UC Irvine's Kennedy East and Brooke Hourigan, UC Santa Barbara's Annie Kuester, Bridget Miller of UC Davis, Long Beach State's Chelsea Oliver, CSUN's Dorottya Telek and Jordan Wedderburn of Hawai'i.
Telek touts a new Big West record in single season goals after netting a career-best six tallies in CSUN's regular season finale en route to shattering the record with 104 goals. Telek tied the milestone in 2023 with 101 tallies after Monika Eggens of UH recorded the mark back in 2013. The center has scored 376 times in the senior's career, qualiyfing as the most ever by a Big West student athlete.
Wedderburn totaled the second most goals on UH this season with 65 tallies. The Joahnnesburg, South Africa native notched a career-high seven scores in a non-conference contest versus UCI. Wedderburn also racked up Player of the Week three times this season, tying the UH program record.
East and Hourigan earned way as second team selections after each registering 41 goals apiece for UCI this season. The Anteaters compiled a 5-2 record in conference play this season and earned a hard-fought victory in the quarterfinal round of the 2025 Big West Women's Water Polo Championship, 12-11 where the duo combined for four tallies.
Kuester collected 60 scores to lead UCSB this season and notched 19 in league play. The senior found the back of the net three or more times in 10 games this season, highlighted by a six-goal standout performance in the Gauchos season opener.
Miller led UCD in goals after putting 47 through the net in 2025. The center recorded four goals in three games this season, the amongst all Aggies.
During Big West play, Oliver led the league in saves (81), goals-against average (7.22) and save percentage (.609). Oliver made double-digit stops four times in Big West battles reaching a career high 14 saves twice.
Imani Clemons of UC Santa Barbara, Daniela Quinzada Gonzalez of Long Beach State, Sadie Henry of UC Davis, Destiny Hernandez of Cal State Fullerton, Kelly Hungerford, Chelsea Johnson, and Gianna Nocetti of UC Davis, Madi O'Hara of UC Irvine, Jamie Oberman of Long Beach State, Courtney Okumura of UC San Diego, Anna Pal of CSUN, Roni Perlman of Hawai'i, Amanda Price of Long Beach State, and Nioka Thomas of UC Irvine all received honorable mention.
The All-Freshman team features LBSU's Rita Gurri Capel, Gabrielle Doyle of UH, LBSU's Daniela Quinzada Gonzalez, UCI's Pippa Heaver, UCSB's Bella Mady, UCSD's Holly Roberts, and Éma Vernoux of UH.
Hawai'i received the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Championship by winning The Big West Championship for the sixth time in program history after stifling second-seeded LBSU by a score of 8-6 in the Championship Final. This is the first time UH has punched consecutive tickets to the NCAA Championship since 2005-06.
The Rainbow Wahine earned the No. 4 seed and will compete in a rematch of last year's NCAA Championship Semifinal against California (19-5) in this year's quarterfinals of the national tournament on Friday, May 9 at 2 p.m. PT/11 a.m. HT. The 2025 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship is hosted on the campus of IUPUI at the IU Natatorium, May 9-11.
| 2025 All-Big West First Team
|
| Student-Athlete |
Year |
Position |
Institution |
Hometown |
| Martina Cardona |
Sr. |
ATK |
Long Beach State |
Barcelona, Spain |
| Caroline Christl |
R-Sr. |
UTL |
UC San Diego |
San Clemente, Calif. |
| Bernadette Doyle |
Sr. |
ATK |
Hawai'i |
Auckland, New Zealand |
| Lauren Hett |
So. |
ATK |
UC Irvine |
Orinda, Calif. |
| Daisy Logtens |
So. |
GK |
Hawai'i |
Uden, Netherlands |
| Elisa Portillo |
Jr. |
ATK |
Long Beach State |
Madrid, Spain |
| Kendall Thomas |
Sr. |
CEN |
UC San Diego |
Merced, Calif. |
| Éma Vernoux |
Fr. |
ATK |
Hawai'i |
Marsielle, France |
| 2025 All-Big West Second Team |
|
|
| Student-Athlete |
Year |
Position |
Institution |
Hometown |
| Kennedy East |
Sr. |
ATK |
UC Irvine |
Redondo Beach, Calif. |
| Brooke Hourigan |
Gr. |
ATK |
UC Irvine |
Newport Beach, Calif. |
| Annie Kuester |
Sr. |
UTL |
UC Santa Barbara |
Danville, Calif. |
| Bridget Miller |
So. |
UTL |
UC Davis |
Ladera Ranch, Calif. |
| Chelsea Oliver |
Jr. |
GK |
Long Beach State |
Auckland, New Zealand |
| Dorottya Telek |
Sr. |
CEN |
CSUN |
Budapest, Hungary |
| Jordan Wedderburn |
Sr. |
UTL |
Hawai'i |
Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Honorable Mention: Imani Clemons (UC Santa Barbara, Sr., CEN), Daniela Quinzada Gonzalez (Long Beach State, UTL), Sadie Henry (UC Davis, So., UTL), Destiny Hernandez (Cal State Fullerton, Sr., UTL), Kelly Hungerford (UC Davis, Sr., ATK), Chelsea Johnson (UC Davis, So., CEN), Gianna Nocetti (UC Davis, R-Jr., ATK), Madi O'Hara (UC Irvine, R-Jr., UTL), Jamie Oberman (Long Beach State, Sr., DEF), Courtney Okumura (UC San Diego, Sr., Los Altos, Calif.), Anna Pal (CSUN, Sr., DEF), Roni Perlman (Hawai'I, Jr., ATK), Amanda Price (Long Beach State, Gr., UTL), Nioka Thomas (UC Irvine, Sr., CEN) |
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|
| All-Freshman Team: Rita Gurri Capel (Long Beach State, DEF), Gabrielle Doyle (Hawai'i, ATK), Daniela Quinzada Gonzalez (Long Beach State, UTL), Pippa Heaver (UC Irvine, ATK), Bella Mady (UC Santa Barbara, UTL), Holly Roberts (UC San Diego, UTL), Éma Vernoux (Hawai'i, ATK) |