Game Notes

The University of Hawai'i women's water polo team will play five matches this week, beginning with a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest at No. 4 UCLA, Feb. 19 and the UC Irvine Tournament, Feb. 21-22. The third-ranked Rainbow Wahine open the tournament against Cal State Northridge.

UH (6-3, 0-2 MPSF) will look for a repeat performance against the four-time defending national champion Bruins. In the teams' earlier meeting two weeks ago, the Rainbow Wahine snapped a 32-match losing streak against the Bruins with a 13-12 victory. The win propelled UH to its highest ranking in school history.

On its first road trip, UH began the season undefeated at the NorCal Cup tournament in Santa Clara, Calif., which included blow-out victories over Sonoma State, UC Davis, Cal State Monterey and Santa Clara.

UH then dropped consecutive MPSF matches against No. 7 San Jose State and No. 2 Stanford before rebounding with a second place finish at the Stanford Invitational which included the program's the first-ever victory over UCLA.

 

Feb. 19            at UCLA*                                3:00 p.m.

 

Irvine Tournament (Irvine, Calif.)

Feb. 21            vs. Cal State Northridge           11:30 a.m.

                         vs. TBD                                         TBD

Feb. 22           vs. TBD                                          TBD

                         vs. TBD                                          TBD

 

On the opening day of the Stanford Invitational, the Rainbow Wahine defeated No. 3 ranked UCLA for the first time ever in the program's history, 13-12. Last season, UCLA went undefeated and took the NCAA championship for the fourth season in a row. The Rainbow Wahine made a late come back in the match. After trailing 9-5 at the half, UH managed to sink UCLA's lead, outscoring them 5-2 in the fourth quarter. Senior Kelly Mason broke an 11-11 tie, scoring with 2:55 left on the clock and soon after sealing up the Rainbow Wahine's win with another goal.

 

Senior Kelly Mason, who was picked for the all-MPSF first-team two seasons in a row, is currently leading UH with 25 goals for a 2.70 goals per match average, and 14 steals. She scored six of the team's 13 goals against UCLA. She currently ranks fifth in the MPSF in goal-scoring. UH's second-leading scorer, junior Leonie van Der Molen is ranked at number 14 in the league with a total of 17 goals, averaging 1.89 goals per match.

 

At the season-opening NorCal Cup Tournament in Santa Clara, Calif., the Rainbow Wahine came out strong by finishing with a 4-0 record. On the tournament's opening day, UH dominated Sonoma State 14-1 and later kept UC Davis at bay 11-7. The Rainbow Wahine then went on to stay undefeated with victories over Cal State Monterey Bay, 16-2 and Santa Clara, 21-6.

 

Despite UH's success at the NorCal Cup tournament and the Stanford Invitational, Hawai'i has still yet to win an MPSF match and is currently 0-2 in league play. In between tournaments, the Rainbow Wahine faced off against No. 7 San Jose State and dropped a critical 10-8 decision in overtime. The Rainbow Wahine led 7-2 at the end of the third quarter, but the Spartans scored five goals in the fourth, tying the game at 7-7, forcing overtime. UH also lost to No. 2 Stanford a couple days later, 8-6. The Rainbow Wahine are currently eighth in the MPSF standings.

 

According to the Feb. 11 Collegiate Water Polo Association Poll, Hawai'i moved up to No. 3 in the rankings, the highest in school history. Since UH's victory over then-No. 3 UCLA on Feb. 7, the Rainbow Wahine recieved 88 total points. USC and Stanford both remain at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots above UH while UCLA dropped to No. 4.