HONOLULU – The No. 5 University of Hawai'i water polo team (11-2) returns to action at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex for the first time in 41 days, opening up Big West Conference play with No. 7 UC Irvine (4-8) coming to Manoa on Saturday, March 3.
 
The Rainbow Wahine are fresh off a 3-1 record at UCI's Barbara Kalbus Invitational, closing the week with a second close victory over No. 6 Arizona State. UH opened the week with a 20-3 victory at No. 24 Cal Baptist. The Rainbow Wahine have won 11 of their last 12 matches.
 
Blazing the path for UH through 13 matches is junior attacker Irene Gonzalez with 32 goals, also leading the team with 24 steals and 21 assists. Gonzalez also tops the Big West standings with 2.46 goals, 1.62 assists and 1.86 steals per match.
 
The Rainbow Wahine control the top two spots among league scorers, with first-semester freshman Elyse Lemay-Lavoie averaging 2.30 goals per outing, recording 23 in her 10 matches, while junior Femke Aan has racked up 22 in 13 matches for a 1.69 average.
 
In the cage, senior Ymane Hage ranks third in the Big West with an average of 6.77 saves per match, collecting the league's second-largest total at 88 stops. Hage also ties for fifth with 1.38 steals per contest.
 
Senior center Natalie Seidemann leads the Anteaters with 17 goals on the year, while freshman Tara Prentice has 16 and senior Julie Swieca has 15. UCI has averaged just 5 goals per match in losses this year and have split up goal keeper duties between three players. The most prominent, Morgan Jones has a BWC seventh-most 26 saves for a 5.58 average across six matches.
 
The Rainbow Wahine dropped 2-of-3 matches with the Anteaters last season and are 17-9 against UC Irvine in the series, with UH winning three of the last four at home.
 
The Anteaters and Rainbow Wahine are scheduled for first sprint at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
 

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Saturday, March 3
Opponent: No. 7 UC Irvine
Live Stats: FOSH
Time: 6:00 p.m. HT
Where: Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex (Honolulu, O'ahu)