HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i water polo team will begin it's 2021 campaign on the road at UC San Diego Wednesday and Thursday. The Wednesday night game will be a Big West conference matchup while the Thursday game will be a non-conference match.

The Rainbow Wahine will look to continue their strong start from 2020 in which the women sprinted out to an 11-0 start, the longest winning streak to start a season in school history before two losses to Stanford and UCLA and ultimately the COVID-19 pandemic. Hawaii returns it's fourth highest point scorer, Lalelei Mataafa who scored 28 goals and added two assits in 2020. The Wahine return three of their 12 starts in goal from 2020 with Molly DiLalla and Danielle Brown battling for the starting spot this year. 

Currently ranked tied for fifth in the country by Collegiate Water Polo Association with all five other Big West teams that are competing in 2021 ranked in the Top 25 as well.

The Wahine add four newcomers to the team including junior Amelia Meckelborg, sophomore Annabelle Ackert and freshmen Morgan Rios and Lot Stertefeld. 

UC San Diego currently sits in the No. 10 spot in the CWPA Top 25 and has a 3-2 record. The Tritons are on a 2-match losing streak after falling twice in non-conference play to UC Irvine.

First sprint against the Tritons is slated for 4 p.m. HT on both Wednesday and Thursday.