Davis, California — The 16th-ranked UC Santa Barbara women's water polo team begins postseason play Friday, facing No. 8 Long Beach State in the quarterfinals of the Big West Women's Water Polo Championship. The Gauchos enter the tournament as the No. 6 seed, while Beach holds the No. 3 seed. This is the third year in a row that Santa Barbara and Long Beach have met in the conference tournament's Three-Six, with Beach winning both of the past two.
when and where to watch
The 2024 Big West Women's Water Polo Championship is being held at the Schall Aquatics Center in Davis, with the Gauchos' quarterfinals scheduled to begin Friday at 4:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and live statistics will be available at ucsbgauchos.com.
final timeout
Santa Barbara College ended the regular season in style with a 10-3 victory over California State University, Fullerton on Senior Night. Four graduating gauchos — camilla mckay, lee writer, mary beth heffinger and Drew Halverson — Heffelfinger's two-goal night was one of many highlights in the pool, all to start the game.
Tournament history
UC Santa Barbara has played Long Beach State in the first round in the past five times it has appeared in the Big West Championship, and is 1-4 in those games, two of which have been by just They lost by one point. The last time the Gauchos won a tournament against Beach was in his 2019. Kenji Snyder's 16 saves are the second-most in a Big West Championship game, behind fellow Gaucho goaltender Ruth Milne's 17 saves against Long Beach in 2010. madison walker She herself contributed to the Gauchos' success as a goaltender, making 15 saves in last year's quarterfinals.
What you need to know about Gauchos
Walker has been a mainstay for Santa Barbara's defense this season, making 200 saves for the second time in his career in college water polo. With her 213 blocks on the season, she has already surpassed last season's total, breaking the eighth single-season record in program history and once again marking her highest total since 2016. Of the Big West goaltenders with 200 saves this season, Walker is by far the best with a .534 save percentage and an 8.05 goals-against average, both in the Big West. He has the second best score.
Walker had 40 steals, second in the conference, and has thrived in Santa Barbara's troublesome defense. The Gauchos are the only team in the Big West to have three different players in the top 10 in stolen bases. juju amaral (36) And lee writer (34) Both proved to be extremely annoying to opposing ball handlers.
Amaral and Reiter also played important roles in the Gaucho attack, Annie Kuster Form a 3-member 30-goal club for Santa Barbara. Reiter's 38 is a team best, but Kuster's 36 isn't even close. Amaral, the only member of the Gauchos entering the tournament with a 30-30 record and 33 goals and 31 assists, is a rookie. Christina Mullane It's not that far. His transfer to Hawaii struck a perfect balance in his first year with the Blue & Gold, scoring 26 goals and dishing out 26 assists.
scout the beach
Long Beach State finished second in the Big West in goal differential behind powerhouse Hawaii, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise considering they have Lala Luka, the conference's leading scorer, on their side. Luka ranks second in both points (82) and assists (49), but those numbers add up to 131 points, which is nearly a third of the team's 374 goals this season. It means being involved in. Elisa Portillo herself contributed an additional 78 points for her 51st goal of the season, including one goal on March 9th in a regular season game against the Gauchos. Luka recorded a hat trick and two assists in that game.
Along with their offensive numbers, Beach also boasts a strong defense, allowing the third fewest points in the Big West this year behind Hawaii and the Gauchos. Goaltender Chelsea Oliver has a decent save percentage of .473, but thanks to her defensive prowess, her goals against average is only 8.24. When Long Beach visited Santa Barbara, the Gauchos had 28 shots, but only 17 were on target and only four found the net. In that game, the Beach defense made four field blocks in front of Oliver.
next
The winner of Friday night's quarterfinals will play either second-seeded UC Irvine or tournament host seventh-seeded UC Davis on Saturday, April 27 at 2 p.m.
