INDIANAPOLIS – Big West champion and No. 4 seed Hawai’i used a strong start and feisty finish to play past California, 8-7, in the 2025 National Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Championship quarterfinals from the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.  

With the win, UH improves to 21-4 on the season and will take on top-seeded Stanford (23-1) in Saturday’s semifinals at 9 a.m. PT/6 a.m. HT. Friday’s victory over Cal avenges a 2024 national semifinal loss to the Bears and moves the Rainbow Wahine 2-0 over Cal during the 2025 campaign. 

Big West Player of the Year Bernadette Doyle, of Auckland, New Zealand, struck first in the game, connecting less than two minutes into the contest. Camille Radosavljevic made it 2-0 with 3:20 remaining in the period to extend the advantage. UH closed the frame with a power play goal for French Olympian Ema Vernoux with less than a minute to play in the first to grow the lead over the Bears. Hawai’i keeper sophomore Daisy Logtens was big in the period, recording five saves in the cage to keep the clean sheet intact through the first eight minutes.  

Radosavljevic slipped the pass to Alia Burlock early in the second to get another UH goal on the power play with Cal’s Miriam Bogachenko responding to make it 4-1 in the opening minute of the period. Cal sliced another off the UH advantage near the midway point of the frame, with a Hawai’i turnover and exclusion on the ensuing possession. That led to an Eszter Varro strike to the post to make it a one-goal game with 3:45 remaining in the first half. 

UH’s Burlock was the next to score for the ’Bows, seizing the moment for the offensive attack for a second goal in the game to set the score at 5-3, where it would remain at the half.  

The second half started with a Cal connection for Varro to make it a one-goal game yet again. Varro got the hattrick with 5:49 on the clock to knot the score at five apiece and the Bears nabbed their first lead on the power play less than two minutes later at 6-5. 

Held scoreless in the third quarter, Doyle and Radosavljevic of UH both had great tries to tie the game, but Cal’s Talia Fonseca denied both attempts to maintain the slim lead heading into the final eight minutes of action. 

After sitting out the third period with foul trouble, senior Jordan Wedderburn turned and scored the direct strike to knot the score at 6-all just 22 seconds into the period. Big West Freshman of the Year Vernoux converted on the penalty try with 5:50 remaining to edge out to the lead, and a lob for senior Doyle got the Rainbow Wahine their third goal of the frame to make it 8-6 with 4:24 to play.  

Out of a Cal timeout, UH’s Logtens came up with a big save on the Claire Rowell shot with 1:05 remaining to keep the margin at two heading into the final minute of action. Two more stops with less than 30 seconds to play kept the Rainbow Wahine ahead, but the final minute was full of drama.   

A UH offensive foul and quick turnover gave Cal the chance to slice the advantage in half with a Bogachenko goal with just nine ticks remaining. The ’Bows were able to hold on in the waning moments secure the 8-7 victory and advance to their second straight semifinal matchup.  

Big West Championship Most Valuable Player Logtens shined in net, finishing the day with 12 saves with the foursome of Doyle, Burlock, Vernoux and Wedderburn each recording a brace for the ’Bows. For Cal, Varro’s three paced the scoring while Fonseca tallied seven stops. The Bears close the year at 19-6. 

The Rainbow Wahine advance to tomorrow’s semifinals against one of the fiercest teams in the land whose only loss came to third-seeded USC back on March 29. The Cardinal are coming off a high-octane quarterfinal win that saw the team surpass 20 goals for the fifth time this season and a first in a NCAA contest. Stanford defeated Wagner 28-6, reaching the scoring benchmark for just the third time in program history, with both previous 28-goal tallies coming in the 1997 season.