FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS

Saturday, Feb. 15
No. 6 UC Irvine Anteaters (9-3) at No. T-3 USC (6-1)
12:00 PM – Uytengsu Aquatics Center – Los Angeles, Calif.
Live stats


Weekend Storylines

• UCI is 9-3 on the season for the first time since 2017
• UCI earned its highest ranking in program history coming in at No. 3 in the first Collegiate Water Polo Coaches Association (CWPA) National Poll of the season. The 'Eaters began pre-season ranked No. 5 nationally, tying the 2016 team for the highest rank to open a season
• UCI moved to No. 6 in this week's national rankings
• UCI's previous highest ranking was No. 4 after the 2012 season
• The Anteaters finished in fifth-place at the Triton Invite with a 2-1 record
• USC is tied for No. 3 in this week's rankings with a 6-1 overall record
• UCI is 0-29 all-time against USC

About the Trojans

• USC dropped its first game of the season to UCLA, 7-5, in the championship game at the Triton Invitational. The Trojans finished the weekend 3-1 with wins over Villanova (19-3), Long Beach St. (15-6) and UCSD (14-11)
• UCI dropped an 11-5 decision to the Trojans last season
• Grace Tehaney leads the Trojans with 17 goals while Bayley Weber is second on the team with 15
• In goal, Holly Parker has 39 saves for a 5.9 goals against average

Team Notes

• UCI opened the 2020 season with a 12-7 upset win over fourth-ranked Cal. It marked just the second time, and first since 2005, the Anteaters have beaten the Bears
• The Anteaters are 14-6 in season openers including wins in three of their last four
• Tara Prentice was named the Big West Player of the week for the third time in her career after leading the Anteaters with 12 goals at the Cal Cup including a career-tying five goal performance against Cal
• Head coach Dan Klatt reached his 300^th career win with UCI's 14-6 victory over Fresno State (Feb. 26). He is in his 16^th season at UCI
• Prentice leads the team with 38 goals scored while Morgan Jones has played every game in goal and has 97 saves on the season for a .540 save percentage
• Freshman Elena Flynn is second on the team with 22 goals

Triton Invite

• Last week, UCI went 3-1 at the Triton Invitational and finished fifth
• The 'Eaters opened the tournament with a dominant 13-3 win over Santa Clara before a narrow 9-8 loss to No. 8 Arizona State
• UCI went 2-0 on the second day with wins over No. 19 Indiana (12-7) and No. 9 UC Santa Barbara (10-4) in the fifth-place game
• Tara Prentice finished the weekend with 13 goals while Morgan Jones had 25 saves over four games

Roster Sneak Peak
"We only lost three seniors last year so our roster is fairly consistent with what it was in 2019. With the improvement of our returning players plus the addition of the newcomers, I am really excited for the roster we have."
 
Senior two time All-American Tara Prentice returns as UCI's leading scorer after posting 70 goals, the second most in a season in program history. She also finished with 24 steals and 11 assists. Sophomore All-Conference selection Piper Smith will look to have a breakout season after finishing third on the team a year ago with 40 goals and 15 steals.
 
Second team All-Conference goalkeeper Morgan Jones returns as UCI's starting goalie. In 2019 she started 26 games tallying 172 saves. She finished with a 6.15 goals against average.
 
The 'Eaters will look to fill the hole left by four time All-American Mary Brooks who ended her career as the 7^th leading scorer all-time in the Big West.

UCI will get senior leadership from Prentice, Delayne Lynton, Jolene Viramontes and Marissa Echelberger.
 
Fresh Face, Our Place
UCI brings in eight freshmen and one transfer for the 2020 season. Camila Rosas comes to Irvine from Long Beach City College where she was named an All-South Coast Conference first-team selection last season.
 
The eight true freshman include Portia Schiavone, Kili Skibby, Maeve Murphy, Elena Flynn, Jensine Bugelli, Jessica Lynch, Airian Grisham, Mica Schiavone and Sydney Milham

UP NEXT
UCI hosts the Barbara Kalbus Invitational Feb. 21-23