The University of Hawai'i women's water polo team will return home this week to play its last two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches against No.5 California on Mar. 28 and No. 7 San Diego State on Apr. 3. They will additionally play in five exhibition games at home with the Australian and Canadian national teams.

 

UH (14-7, 1-4 MPSF) will look to improve its MPSF record and standing before the conference championships beginning Apr. 24 at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex.

 

Mar.28             CALIFORNIA                     12:00 p.m.

Apr. 3              SAN DIEGO STATE            6:00 p.m.

Apr. 9             CANADA                              6:00 p.m.

Apr. 10            AUSTRALIA                       6:00 p.m.

Apr. 11            AUSTRALIA                       10:00 a.m.

                        CANADA                             6:00 p.m.

 Apr. 12           CANADA                            12:00 p.m.

 

Although senior Kelly Mason fell a couple spots down to No. 7 in the conferences top goal-scorers, sophomores Carmen Eggens and Leonie Van Der Molen along with senior Lisa van Raalte advanced in the rankings. Mason still leads UH with a total of 42 goals averaging 2.1 goals per match. Van Der Molen moved up from No. 14 last week to No. 9 with an average of 1.95 goals per match. Eggens and van Raalte, who were previously unranked are now at the No. 21 and No. 25 spots. Eggens has a 1.4 goals per match average while van Raalte stands holds on with 1.3.

 

UH came out of the Aztec Invitational, hosted by No. 7 San Diego State with four consequtive landslide victories. The team played Brown and Indiana on their first day of the invitational and played Pacific and Hartwick on the second. Against Brown, UH was consistent in scoring for throughout the match. After the first quarter, the Rainbow Wahine led the Bears 3-1 and edged them out 9-1 by halftime. UH put in six more goals in the third period and five more in the fourth, defeating Brown, 20-4. Leading the Rainbow Wahine in their first match was sophomore Saara Majuri with six goals. UH led the first quarter of the match against Indiana, 2-0, and were able to score three more goals in the second period, leading at halftime, 5-1. The Hoosiers kept the Rainbow Wahine scoreless in the third quarter, but UH managed to hold onto the lead for a 6-2 victory. Leonie van der Molen led the Rainbow Wahine with two goals.

Against Pacific, UH started off strong keeping the Tigers scoreless all the way until halftime, where they took a 10-0 lead. Although Pacific was able to score four goals in the second half, the Rainbow Wahine held them off with seven more goals, and defeated the Tigers in a landslide 17-4. Sophomore Saara Majuri led the Rainbow Wahine again with four goals. The Rainbow Wahine repeated a strong start against Hartwick by keeping the Hawks at no goals in the first quarter. Hartwick broke through with two goals in the second period but UH still held the lead at halftime, 7-2. Hartwick managed to score one goal in each quarter of the second half, but the Rainbow Wahine outdid the Hawks with two goals in each quarter for an 11-4 victory at the conclusion of the match. Leading UH in scoring was Lisa van Raalte with five goals.

 

On Mar. 23, the Rainbow Wahine played their fifth match in three days against No. 10 Loyola Marymount. UH trailed 5-3 at halftime, but scored two goals in the third quarter to tie the game and scored three in the final quarter, defeating the Lions, 8-7. Overall, Mason, van Raalte and Van Der Molen each scored two goals and Genee and Majuri each had one goal.

According to the Mar. 25 Collegiate Water Polo Association Poll, Hawai'i continues to remain at No. 4. UH moved from being at No. 3 on the Feb. 18 polls, the team's highest rank in school history, back down to No. 4 under UCLA. The Rainbow Wahine have redeemed themselves in their last road trip in the Aztec Invitational and against Loyola Marymount, but still have many losses to makeup in order to advance in the MPSF or in the Collegiate Water Polo Association poll.