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What 2 Watch 4
- The 2026 Big West Women's Water Polo Championship returns to the pool April 10–12 at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center in Long Beach, Calif., where eight programs will battle for conference supremacy and the highly coveted automatic bid to the 2026 NC Women's Water Polo Championship.
Hosted by Long Beach State, the three-day event opens with quarterfinal action on Friday, followed by Saturday's semifinals and Sunday's title match.
Hawai'i enters as the No. 1 seed after completing an unbeaten run through conference play, clinching its third consecutive regular-season title. Agatha Weston leads the scoring effort with 42 tallies, while freshman Ariadna Temprano Xambó adds another dynamic layer offensively with 63 points (34 goals, 29 assists). Daisy Logtens anchors the defense in goal 133 saves this season. Hawai'i opens against No. 8 UC Santa Barbara, led by Cami Mras and Loretta Hovey offensively, while redshirt freshman Keira Wall leads the Gauchos in the cage.
The No. 4/5 matchup features UC Irvine and UC San Diego in a compelling clash between two evenly matched programs. UC Irvine enters after a narrow, sudden-death loss in its regular-season finale but continues to lean on Lauren Hett, who delivered an eight-point performance in that contest. UC San Diego enters as the No. 5 seed after splitting its final four regular-season games. Abigail Schechter leads the Tritons in scoring (54 goals), followed closely by Emily Cloherty (43 goals), giving UCSD a balanced offensive attack. Senior Bria Zwaschka anchors the defense with extensive minutes in goal, while also contributing 37 steals to spark transition opportunities.
Host Long Beach State, the No. 2 seed, brings one of the most explosive offenses in the field, led by Elisa Portillo, the conference leader in total points with 116 (65 goals, 51 assists). Chiara Amoroso and Lucy Miszewski round out a high-powered trio capable of shifting momentum quickly, while Polina Synytsia provides reliability in goal with 188 stops. The Beach faces No. 7 Cal State Fullerton, which is powered by Destiny Hernandez's 47 tallies, while Emme Doube-MacLeod impacts the game on both ends with defensive playmaking. Renske Boxsem anchors the Titans with the third-most saves in the league at 187.
The final quarterfinal matchup pits No. 3 UC Davis against No. 6 CSUN in a contrast of balance and scoring punch. UC Davis features a well-rounded attack led by Gianna Nocetti and Chelsea Johnson, providing 49 and 46 goals, respectively. Eva Stein has been one of the conference's top goalkeepers with 8.3 saves per game and anchors the Aggies defensively behind the league's top save percentage (.488). CSUN counters with Mira Dravucz leading the offense alongside 62 tallies (third most in The Big West), while Erika Staine has stopped 7.5 shots in conference games in 2026.
Quarterfinal winners advance to Saturday's semifinals, where the championship picture begins to take shape. The winner of Hawai'i and UC Santa Barbara will meet the victor of UC Irvine and UC San Diego, while Long Beach State or Cal State Fullerton will square off against UC Davis or CSUN for a place in Sunday's final at 2 and 4 p.m., respectively. The semifinals and final will broadcast live on ESPN+.
2025 Rewind
- Hawai'i claimed the 2025 Big West Women's Water Polo Championship for the second year in a row. The top-seeded Rainbow Wahine defeated No. 2 seed Long Beach State by a final score of 8-6 in the title game to claim the program's sixth conference championship. UH would then go on to advance to consecutive NC Championship Semifinal appearances.
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