HONOLULU - Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara were tied for ninth in the national rankings to begin the day, but not anymore. The Rainbow Wahine outlasted the Gauchos, 5-3, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation women’s water polo match Tuesday night at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.

A Kuhio Day crowd of about 200 saw Hawaii (8-8, 3-4 MPSF) jump out to a 3-0 lead on goals from Beth Novick, Chelsea Garner-Prohs, and Makana Whitford, the first of her career, less than four minutes into the match.

UC Santa Barbara (12-12, 2-4 MPSF) scored its first goal with 1:05 left in the first period when junior 2M Erin Lezak found the back of the net. The Gauchos managed to hold off the Rainbow Wahine attack and get another goal from freshman utility Shawna Shipley in the second period.

The Gauchos took advantage of a Hawaii ejection and tied the match on senior driver Mary Blumberg’s goal with 23 seconds left in the third period. But Hawaii’s answer came from senior utility Karin van Hoff who scored two goals in the fourth period, the second, a floater with 2:11 left in the match to seal the victory.

Hawaii hosts the Rainbow Challenge this week at The Duke. Matches begin Thursday, March 28.

Goals
Hawaii: Karin van Hoff (2), Chelsea Garner-Prohs (1), Makana Whitford (1), Beth Novick (1).
UC Santa Barbara: Erin Lezak (1), Mary Blumberg (1), SHawna Shipley (1)..

Goalie Saves
Hawaii: Christa Tackaberry (12).
UC Santa Barbara: Rachel Balint (7).

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