DAVIS, Calif. — The No. 2 University of Hawai'i women's water polo team opens the Big West season on the road when the Rainbow Wahine face No. 16 UC Davis on Friday, March 8 at the Schaal Aquatics Center in Davis, Calif. The 'Bows will cap their Northern California road trip at No. 4 California on Sunday, March 10 at the Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley, Calif.

UH matched up with UC Davis in the Triton Invitational on Feb. 3, resulting in a 14-9 win for the Rainbow Wahine. UH last faced California in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational on Feb. 24, with UH claiming the 10-7 victory. The 'Bows and Bears also met in an exhibition game in the Fresno State Polo-Palooza on the opening weekend of the season.

The Rainbow Wahine had a week off following a runner-up finish in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational, the program's highest finish in 17 appearances in the event.

UH has held the No. 2 spot in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Women's Varsity Top 25 for the last five weeks. The ranking is the highest in program history.

NO. 2 HAWAI'I RAINBOW WAHINE (11-2, 0-0 BIG WEST) vs. NO. 16 UC DAVIS (6-13, 0-1 BIG WEST) | NO. 4 CALIFORNIA (8-3, 0-0 MPSF)
Date | Time				UC Davis: Friday, Mar. 8, 2024 | 6 p.m. Pacific Time (4 p.m. Hawai'i Time) California: Sunday, Mar. 10, 2024 | 1 p.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Hawai'i Time)
Location				Davis, Calif. — Schaal Aquatics Center Berkley, Calif — Spieker Aquatics Complex
Live Stream				UC Davis: ESPN+ California: pac-12.com Cal Live Stream
Live Stats				UC Davis: The FOSH California: 6-8 Sports
Game Notes				Hawai'i

HEAD COACH MAUREEN COLEAt Hawai'i: 214-94 (13th year)

ALL-TIME SERIES RECORDSNo. 16 UC Davis
SERIES HISTORY: UH leads 30-6
LAST MEETING: Hawai'i, 14-9 (Feb. 3, 2024; La Jolla, Calif)

No. 4 California
SERIES HISTORY: Cal leads 34-13
LAST MEETING: Hawai'i, 10-7 (Feb. 24, 2024; Irvine, Calif)

OPENING SPRINT• The 'Bows defeated UC Davis14-9 in the Triton Invitational earlier this season.

• UH leads the all-time series vs. UC Davis 30-6.

• The 'Bows have won the last 23 matchups against the Aggies spanning over the last 16 years.

• UC Davis last defeated UH on Feb. 25, 2007 (16-11) in the UC Irvine Tournament in Irvine, Calif.

• UH is 9-2 on the road vs. UC Davis, the last meeting resulted in a 13-5 victory on Mar. 11, 2022. UC Davis' last home win vs. UH came on May 9, 1999.

• UC Davis dropped its Big West opener to UC Irvine 7-5 on March 2 in Davis.

• The 'Bows defeated Cal 10-7 in the semifinals of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational in Irvine, Calif.

• UH is 1-7 against Cal in Berkeley. The 'Bows' lone true road win over the Bears came on Feb. 7, 2008 (7-6).

• UH went 1-1 vs. Cal last season with both games going to overtime. Cal pulled out an 11-10 win in the pool play in the BKI in Irvine. UH won the rematch at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex 9-8 on goalie Bridget Layburn's length-of-the-pool shot as the buzzer sounded.

UH CLAIMS 4 BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARDS

• UH claimed the Big West Women's Water Polo Player of the Week award four times this season, marking the first time four different Rainbow Wahine players have been selected for the honor since UH joined the Big West in 2013.

• Sophomore Bia Mantellato Dias won this season's first award on Jan. 24 after helping the Rainbow Wahine to a historic opening weekend in the Polo-Palooza in Fresno, Calif.

• Junior Bernadette Doyle made it back-to-back Big West honors for UH on Jan. 31 to help UH go 3-0 in the Rainbow Invitational.

• Senior attacker Lucia Gomez de la Puente picked up UH's third straight Big West honor on Feb. 7 following the Triton Invitational.

• Goalkeeper Daisy Logtens earned her first Big West Women's Water Polo Player of the Week award after helping lead the second-ranked Rainbow Wahine to a runner-up finish in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational.

• The freshman from the Netherlands recorded 37 saves over four tournament matches to help UH finish 3-1 and post its highest finish in 17 appearances in the event.
 

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.

ROBINSON SELECTED AS NEXT HEAD COACH
• UH associate head coach James Robinson has been selected as the next Rainbow Wahine head coach starting with the 2024-25 season, UH athletics director Craig Angelos has announced.

• Robinson joined the UH staff in 2022 and will be the fourth head coach to lead the Rainbow Wahine since the UH water polo program made its debut in 1998, following in the line of Shari Smart (1998-2002), Michel Roy (2003-11) and Cole (2012-present).

• Robinson, 29, is a graduate of UCLA and was a member of three national championship teams with the Bruins (2014, '15 and '17).

• He was hired as UH associate head coach in 2022 and assisted Cole in leading the Rainbow Wahine to a 21-6 season in 2023.

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.

A total of nine Rainbow Wahine representing six countries competed in the recently completed FINA World Championships in Doha — Mirella Coutinho (Brazil, 2014), Elyse Lemay-Lavoie (Canada, 2018-19, '22), Camille Radosavljevic (France, 2022-23), Szonja Kuna (Hungary, 2020), Maartje Keuning (Netherlands 2017-18), Maxine Schaap (Netherlands, 2019), Bernadette Doyle (New Zealand, 2019-20, present), Libby Gault (New Zealand, 2019-23) and Bridget Layburn (New Zealand, 2019-23)