Starting off the season strong, the UC San Diego Women’s Club Water Polo team attended the Aztec Invite at San Diego State University. The club brought one team to this pre-season tournament for four high-energy games. The Tritons were excited to kick off the season and see what this year’s team can bring to the pool.

For the first game, the Tritons took on the UCLA Bruins’ A team. In the end, they came out on top, with a dominant 15-7. Highlights of the game included multiple buzzer beater goals, from Isabella Pedrazzani and Sarah Horne. Defensively, Kayleigh Dennen led the team with 3 steals. Izanna Hypse also had a fantastic game, racking up 3 assists and 2 steals.

Shortly after, the team played against the Bruins’ B team. The ladies were off to a more difficult start. At half, the score had reached 5-5. Picking up the pace in the second half, the Tritons ended up winning 14-7. During the game, Amanda Martilla and Julia Derunes dominated the offensive end of the pool. Martilla scored 6 goals and drew 2 ejections. Derunes scored 1 goal, had 3 assists, and drew 3 ejections. On the other end of the pool, Goalie Alex Bussey made 6 blocks, and Goalie Story Waxman had 1 block and 2 steals.

The next day, the ladies came back to their most intense game of the weekend, they were tasked with taking on the UC Berkeley Golden Bears, the defending CWPA national champions. The team fought hard the entire game and ultimately came up short, 8-13. Still, many notable accomplishments came out of that tough fought battle. Kayleigh Dennen won both sprints in the first half, and Sarah Horne drew a 5-meter and converted on the penalty shot. Defensively, Amanda Martilla and Julia Derunes had 2 steals each.

Finally, the Tritons went up against the master’s team, Darkside Water Polo. Playing against Master’s teams is always an amazing learning experience for the team. The team watched closely and took notes on how the master’s team dominates in the pool. At the end of the game, the score was 16-1. The one goal of the game for the Tritons came from Amanda Martilla, with an assist from Izanna Hypse. We also saw steals across the board from 5 different players, including Hanna Bush and Kimberly Van Meter.

Overall, the team had an incredibly successful and productive weekend. We are more than excited to see how the rest of the year goes as the team continues to grow in and out of the pool.