LA JOLLA, Calif. — Coming off a successful homestand, the fourth-ranked University of Hawai'i water polo team heads back to California to compete in the three-day Triton Invitational hosted by UC San Diego in La Jolla, Calif. 

The Rainbow Wahine open the tournament against No. 22 San Diego State on Friday, Feb. 2 at noon Pacific Time (10 a.m. Hawaii Time) at Coggan Family Aquatic Complex on the campus of La Jolla High School. The tournament moves to UCSD's Canyonview Aquatic Center on Saturday and Sunday. 

The field for the 15-team event was divided into four brackets with UH placed in Bracket C along with No. 22 San Diego State, No. 13 Long Beach State and No. 16 UC Davis. The 'Bows will face Long Beach State or UC Davis in their first game on Saturday with the result determining the matchup for the second game of the day. The weekend concludes with a single game on Sunday.

TRITON INVITATIONAL: NO. 4 HAWAI'I RAINBOW WAHINE (5-0) vs. NO. 22 SAN DIEGO STATE (2-1)
Date | Time				Friday, Feb. 2, 2024 | 12 p.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Hawai'i time) Saturday, Feb. 3-4, 2024 | Game times TBD
Location				La Jolla, Calif. Friday — La Jolla High School, Coggan Family Aquatic Complex Saturday and Sunday — Canyonview Aquatic Center
Full Schedule				Tournament Central
Live Stats				The FOSH

HEAD COACH MAUREEN COLEAt Hawai'i: 208-92 (13th year)

ALL-TIME SERIES RECORDHawai'i leads San Diego State 28-10 overall (13-4 at neutral sites)
Last meeting: Hawai'i 16, San Diego State 8 (March 18, 2023, Honolulu)

OPENING SPRINT• The Rainbow Wahine opened their home schedule by sweeping through the Rainbow Invitational on Jan. 26 and 27 at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex. UH went 3-0 in the tournament with wins over No. 9 Princeton (10-6), Azusa Pacific (18-3) and No. 5 Fresno State (9-5).
 
• UH remained at No. 4 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association's Women's Varsity Top 25 for a second straight week, trailing USC, California and UCLA.
 
• UH junior attacker Bernadette Doyle was named the Big West Women's Water Polo Player of the Week on Wednesday, giving the fourth-ranked Rainbow Wahine back-to-back conference honors to open the season. Doyle racked up five goals, five assists and seven steals in the Rainbow Invitational.
 
• Sophomore Bia Mantellato Dias earned the season's first Big West Player of the Week award and leads UH with 12 goals. Senior Alba Bonamusa Boix is next with 10 goals and is tied with Doyle for the team's points lead with 16. Senior Lucia Gomez de la Puente has nine goals and six assists.

• Freshman Daisy Logtens and graduate student Emma Gurasich have alternated starts this season. Logtens was credited with wins over Michigan and Princeton. Gurasich has wins over Stanford, Azusa Pacific and Fresno State.
 
• UH opens the Triton Invitational against San Diego State for the second straight year. The 'Bows went 3-1 in the event last season with wins over SDSU, Fresno State and UC Irvine and a loss to UCLA.
 
• UH and San Diego State met twice last season with UH winning both matchups. Along with the win at the Triton Invitational, the 'Bows defeated the Aztecs 16-8 in Honolulu on March 18, 2023.
 
• Through five games, 14 players have scored at least one goal this season and seven have at least four.

TRITON INVITATIONAL FIELDThe Triton Invitational is divided into four brackets. Teams will compete within their brackets for the first two games then crossover to other brackets for Saturday's second game and Sunday's matches. The top two teams from Brackets A and D meet on Saturday afternoon as well as the top two from Brackets B and C.
Bracket A: No. 1 USC, No. 10 Michigan, No. 12 UC Santa Barbara, Concordia
Bracket B: No. 3 UCLA, No. 9 UC San Diego, No. 14 Arizona State, California Baptist
Bracket C: No. 4 Hawai'i, No. 13 Long Beach State, No. 16 UC Davis, No. 22 San Diego State
Bracket D: No. 5 Fresno State, No. 6 UC Irvine, No. 11 Loyola Marymount

DOYLE PICKS UP BIG WEST HONORRainbow Wahine junior Bernadette Doyle has made an instant impact in her return to the UH program. The attacker from New Zealand scored five goals, assisted on five others, and swiped seven steals to help UH go 3-0 in the Rainbow Invitational last weekend at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex. She scored twice in the first half against Princeton and set up two goals in a 10-6 victory in UH's home opener. She contributed a goal to an 18-3 win over Azusa Pacific in the team's first match on Jan. 27. In the tournament finale, she had a hand in five goals in a 9-5 win over No. 5 Fresno State, scoring twice and posting three assists.

Doyle played for UH in 2019 and 2020, scoring 30 goals and distributing 24 assists in her first two seasons with the Rainbow Wahine. She went back to New Zealand then returned to UH this year. 

ALOHA SEASONUH head coach Maureen Cole announced in November she will retire from coaching following the conclusion of this season, her 18^th with the Rainbow Wahine program overall and 13^th as head coach.

Cole joined the UH program as an assistant coach in 2007 and was elevated to head coach prior to the 2012 season. She's the winningest and longest tenured coach in program history and has led the 'Bows to five Big West regular-season titles, four tournament crowns and four NCAA Tournament appearances.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVORThe Rainbow Wahine again feature an international lineup with eight countries represented on the 21-player roster. A team dinner with players preparing a dish from their respective countries annually highlights "aloha week" leading up to the season opener. Blending various styles in the pool has also been a longstanding staple of the UH program and the 'Bows enter the season looking to integrate nine newcomers into the mix.