HONOLULU — University of Hawai'i utility Jordan Wedderburn earned her third Big West Women's Water Polo Player of the Week award of the season on Wednesday after helping the Rainbow Wahine pull out a dramatic victory over a conference rival last weekend.
 
Wedderburn posted her 10th hat trick of the season in her final home match to help UH — ranked third and fourth in the national polls — defeat No. 7 UC Irvine 16-11 in overtime on Saturday at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex. The senior from Johannesburg, South Africa also tallied two assists, a steal and two field blocks and drew four exclusions to help the 'Bows secure their seventh straight victory and move into sole possession of first place in the conference standings entering their final week of the regular season.
 
Wedderburn is the second UH player to earn three Big West Player of the Week awards in a single season since the Rainbow Wahine joined the conference in 2013, and her four career awards ties the program record. The 'Bows' five awards as a team this season also matches last year's record total.
 
Wedderburn got the offense rolling on Saturday with UH's first goal of the contest at the 7:22 mark of the first quarter. After UCI built a 7-4 lead, Wedderburn contributed a goal to a 3-0 UH scoring run to tie the game. She tallied her third score of the match with the go-ahead goal early in overtime, which sparked a 5-0 surge to end the match. With the hat trick, she reached 50 goals for the season and now ranks fourth in the Big West with 2.6 goals per match.
 
The Rainbow Wahine (16-3, 5-0 Big West) remained at No. 3 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Women's Varsity Top 25 poll for a seventh consecutive week, and No. 4 in the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches poll.
 
UH concludes the regular season with a three-game road trip to Southern California, beginning with a Big West matchup against No. 11/9 UC San Diego on Thursday in La Jolla, Calif. They'll face No. 4/3 UCLA in a nonconference showdown on Saturday in Los Angeles. They'll then close the regular season at Cal State Fullerton on Sunday.