UC San Diego Women’s Water Polo
After a well-deserved spring break from the treacherous academic quarter, the UC San Diego Tritons Lady Tritons fought hard against southern Californian rivals on their home turf. Overall, the UC San Diego B team played very well and cohesively. The dynamic and comradery of the team showed greatly in the pool, defeating University of San Diego in the exhibition game (12-5). The UC San Diego A team had a strong start winning their first three games of the tournament against University of California, Irvine (9-6), Arizona State University (16-3), and University of San Diego (10-2). Although the UC San Diego A team fought with a lot of heart, they lost their game against San Diego State University A in a sudden death match.
The UC San Diego B Team had marks all across the board from everyone on the team. Each individual has their own strengths and they have grown so much since our first tournament of the season. The team held a strong defensive line against their rivals and they were able to keep their opponents on edge. Leading the score board, Gretta “Gratata” Musayelyan had 11 points, 5 of them against University of Arizona and another 5 against USD. Next were Emily Heinz and Nelly “Rocks” El-Sakkary, who scored 5 goals each. Other phenomenal goals were made by Clara “Clarry Potter” Woods, Sandhya “Spicy” Sriram, Taylor Mathis, and Olivia “Swiper” Navarro. Navarro also had noteworthy steals against UCI and UoA. Goalies Jayna “Father” Kaveney had 15 blocks and Emily “Hic Hik Hooray” Hickey blocked 11. Throughout the tournament, the team gained and lost some players due to illnesses and late arrivals back from spring break, but the B team remained united and played as one in all their games.
The UC San Diego A team had each of their members contribute significantly through every game. The team had grown to become more communicative with their zone defense and fend off their rivals. Although the A team had a rough start in terms of their communication, they were able to shake that off by the second quarter and they were able to defeat the Anteaters in a very competitive game. They continued that momentum all throughout the tournament, keeping their minds focused on their game against the Aztecs. They had a strong start, leading the score by 2 points (4-2) by the third quarter, but as the game continued, the Aztecs were able to tie by the end of the fourth quarter. The game had gone into overtime where during the Aztecs were able to score one goal during the first three minute quarter. However, the Lady Tritons were able to catch up and tie (5-5) by the end of the second three minute quarter. As the quarter ended, the game had gone into a sudden death match between the two competitors. Unfortunately, the Aztecs were able to win with a quick shot in the goal ending the game with a 5-6 score. Leading the score board, Gaia “Killer Queen” Hinds scored 13 goals and Cathleen “Pup” Nguyen scored 9 goals. Everyone on the A team contributed greatly to the amount of goals, steals, assists, etc. that were made throughout the tournament. The A team goalies, Amanda “DuWALL” Duval and Lian “Brick” Lumada both blocked 16 goals each against the opposing teams. The loss did not break their spirits and the Lady Tritons are training extremely hard to win championships to go off to nationals at Notre Dame University.
Next up, both teams are in Bracket A where the A team is 1st seed and B team is 5th seed where they will compete at SDSU’s pool. Well rested from spring break, the Lady Tritons are training in the pool, preparing to compete for their spot in nationals this coming May. Thank you to the friends and family who came out to support the UC San Diego Lady Tritons this past weekend.
