Upsets Rile the CWPA Top 10; Cal and Pacific Rise Up While UCLA Takes a (Minor) Fall

UCLA Head Coach Adam Wright and assistant Chris Lee have to wonder what it will take to beat Cal on Sunday. Photo Courtesy: Minette Rubin

As is often the case, the Barbara Kalbus Invitational Tournament on the UC Irvine campus is an opportunity for a re-ordering of the nation’s top teams, and the 2019 version did not disappoint. USC and Stanford—which faced off in last Sunday’s Kalbus final—remain first and second in the most recent Collegiate Water Polo Association poll, but Cal jumped a spot by virtue of a scintillating 7-6 overtime win against UCLA. By virtual of an unfamiliar circumstances, the decision dropped the Bruins to #4; back-to-back-to-back losses to the Golden Bears. It’s the first time that’s occurred since 2010.

The other big winner at the Kalbus was Pacific, which jumped four spots to sixth. The Tigers sustained losses to #2 Stanford and #5 Hawai’i; otherwise, Head Coach James Graham’s squad proved their meddle with wins over host UC Irvine and Michigan in finishing sixth. In fact the current CWPA ranking exactly mirrors the results of the Kalbus.

CWPA Top Ten Women’s Varsity Water Polo Teams

#1 USC (17-0; 1-0 MPSF; on a 33-match win streak); went undefeated in the Kalbus (obviously); but the last two matches—against MPSF rivals Cal and Stanford—proved difficult. The Trojans beat the Golden Bears 9-8 despite 14 saves by Madison Tagg, and then silenced the Cardinal behind a hat-trick from Maud Megens (39 goals). Next up for Head Coach Jovan Vavic’s team: a weekend off, then matches next weekend vs. UCI and San Jose State.

#2 Stanford (10-1; 1-0 MPSF) saw its season-opening winning streak snapped by the Trojans. Until a 10-8 loss in the Kalbus final, Mackenzie Fischer (47 goals) and her Cardinal teammates reigned supreme; now they must regroup later today against Santa Clara—and perhaps count the days before they again face USC (exactly 30 days from now).

January 26, 2019; Spieker Aquatics Center, Berkeley, CA, USA; Womens Water Polo: Cal Cup: California Golden Bears vs Fresno State Bulldogs; California Goalkeeper Cassidy Ball Photo credit: Catharyn Hayne for USA Water Polo

Goalie Cassidy Ball and her Golden Bear teammates are on the rise. Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne

Besides Southern Cal, #3 Cal (10-2; 1-0 MPSF) may have been the biggest winner at the Kalbus Invitational. An impressive performance against USC in a loss gave way to a thrilling victory over UCLA and a third-place finish in Irvine. In a scheduling quirk, on Sunday the Golden Bears and Head Coach Coralie Simmons will return to her alma mater when the again face the Bruins, this time at the Spieker Aquatics Center in Los Angeles, CA. Back-to-back victories in 2019—and a streak of four straight over UCLA—would cement Cal as a legitimate threat in the MPSF; key to any success begins with Tagg and offensive threats Emma Wright (29 goals) and Kitty Lynn Joustra (20).

The rebuild for #4 UCLA (16-3) apparently will take a little longer—though a win over Cal this Sunday would do wonders to lift spirits in Westwood. Maddie Musselman (38 goals) and Val Ayala (28) have delivered offensively, but the next leading scorer for Head Coach Adam Wright is Bronte Halligan 15, a considerable drop-off. It’s rare for the Bruins to drop back-to-back matches; a third straight loss—especially in conference play—seems inconceivable.

#5 Hawai’i (11-2) performed to expectations at the Kalbus Invitational; the real question is: when will Head Coach Maureen Cole’s squad break through against a top-four opponent? The Rainbow Wahine had their chance against Cal, but fell short in a 12-10 loss. A win over Pacific keeps them in the CWPA top five; now they’ll have to keep ahead of conference rivals UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara in the race for tops in the Big West—which starts next Sunday when they face #11 UC Davis in their first conference match-up of the season.

Hawai’i’s Irene Gonzalez now has 206 goals—sixth-best in Big West women’s polo history. Photo Courtesy: Hawai’i Athletics

The biggest riser in the poll, #6 Pacific (4-5) proved it was better than its previous ranking, dumping higher-ranked Michigan and UCI in the Kalbus. The favorites for a repeat in the Golden Coast Conference tournament will now look to pad their record against non-conference opponents at the Wolverine Invitational in Ann Arbor, starting tomorrow against St. Francis University, PA. The key contest will come later in the day against their hosts; can the Tigers make it consecutive wins against mighty Michigan?

Due to its peripatetic travel schedule, #7 Michigan (8-7) remains in the driver seat for a third-straight CWPA title. This weekend, rather than traveling to California again, top West Coast teams—including Pacific, #13 Fresno State, #14 UC San Diego, #15 Long Beach State—as well as St. Francis, PA and #21 Marist. The combination of Heidi Ritner in goal (a 9.34 GAA, though she’s been bombarded with 214 shots in 15 games) and Kim Johnson (17 goals, 25 exclusions drawn) are Head Coach Marcelo Leonardi’s dynamic duo.

With consecutive wins, #8 UC Irvine (10-5) finished up their own tournament on a positive note. This weekend they’ll take in the Pomona Convergence Tournament and Division III opponents Chapman and Pomona Pitzer. After a red-shirt year, the Anteater’s Mary Brooks is rounding into form, with 29 goals. The 2016 and 2017 Big West player of the year combines with Tara Prentice (38 goals) to form a one-two punch for Head Coach Dan Klatt—which he’ll need when UCI hosts USC next Thursday.

#9 Arizona State (9-6) is behind in the race for an at-large berth in the 2019 NCAAs—and it looks like Head Coach Todd Clapper’s squad may have to chase down UCLA and Cal. This weekend is a brief respite before the Sun Devils host Stanford in their first MPSF action of the season.

Serela Kaye and her Gauchos. Photo Courtesy: Minette Rubin

Despite two non-conference losses to Big West foe UC Irvine, Head Coach Serela Kay has to be pleased thus far with #10 UC Santa Barbara’s (13-5) progress. Sarah Snyder (38 goals) and Kate Pipin (22 goals, 14 assists) have been consistent performers, while newcomer Amanda Legaspi (28 goals) has been a revelation. Two matches this weekend in Pomona against Azusa Pacific and host Pomona-Pitzer should keep the good times rolling for the Gauchos—though the Sage Hens should not be overlooked in their own pool.

Two East Coast teams going in opposite directions

Until Tom Hyham’s arrival eight months ago, the news out of LaSalle water polo was grim. In two seasons of competition, the Explorers men’s and women’s squads had won a combined total of 10 matches while going to defeat 64 times. The La Salle women were virtually lost, winning only one match in 35 attempts.

Hyham has changed all that. Under his stewardship, the La Salle men were a not-so-encouraging 2-23 in 2018 but were far more competitive at the season’s end—and he hasn’t even brought in his own recruiting class. The women Explorers have delivered impressively, bearing Salem three weeks ago to end a 37-match losing streak that dated back to 2017. They followed this up with a win over St. Francis PA, and have now completed the program’s first ever two-game sweep—winning back-to-back matches last Sunday against Mercyhurst and St. Francis, Brooklyn.

Leading the way for LaSalle have been Jillian Delise (38 goals, 28 steals) and Jenny Fermaintt (82 saves). Fermaintt is particularly noteworthy; picked as a defender in the inaugural LaSalle recruiting class, last season she switched primarily to goalie and has been stalwart in the Explorer nets.

Photo Courtesy: T. Hyman

The win over the Terriers is memorable because these two programs look to be competing to avoid the bottom of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference—and SFC (1-7) is now trailing behind the surprising Explorers (4-11). This is somewhat surprising given that Head Coach Bora Dimitrov, who took over the program reigns last December, has super sophomore Kelsey Snelgar (an impressive 140 goals in a little more than one season) and that freshman goalie MaryCatherine McKendry has posted a respectable 8.89 average in the Terrier cage.

Despite both teams heading West for this weekend’s Convergence Tournament in Claremont, the two teams will not meet again—both MAAC match-ups—until March 9th in Lexington, VA and April 7th in Brooklyn. By then, the paths of these two program will reveal who’s up and who’s down in the East.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use