Tournament Central
No. 6 UC Irvine (9-4) vs. No. 12 Long Beach State (7-2)
Friday, February 21 – 4:15 p.m. – Anteater Aquatics Complex – Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats

UC Irvine will host the Barbara Kalbus Invitational Friday-Sunday (Feb. 21-23). Games will be played between the Anteater Aquatics Complex and Corona del Mar High School Pool.
 
UCI will entertain No. 12 Long Beach State in its first game Friday at 4:15 p.m. at Anteater Aquatics Complex. The Anteaters will play either No. 4 USC or No. 16 Loyola Marymount at 11:45 a.m. Saturday at a site to be determined based on results. The Anteaters will look to win the tournament for the first time in program history. 
 
NATION'S BEST CONVENE IN IRVINE
The Barbara Kalbus Invitational is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the country, featuring 16 teams that are all ranked in the top 25, including all of the top 10 teams in the nation.

The tournament field features No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Hawai'i, No. 4 USC, No. 5 Arizona State, No. 6 UC Irvine, No. 7 Cal, No. 8 UC San Diego, No. 9 UC Santa Barbara, No. 10 Michigan, No. 12 Long Beach State, No. 13 San Jose State, No. 15 UC Davis, No. 16. Loyola Marymount, No. 21 Pacific and No. 22 San Diego State

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
The Tournament Central pages features all of the information fans need to follow this weekend's action. Schedule, rosters, ticket information, results and live stats links can all be found in this location.

REMEMBERING BARBARA
The tournament was renamed in 2017 to honor Barbara Kalbus, an influential figure in not only UCI water polo, but USA water polo as well.

Kalbus was a 1993 inductee into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame, serving as a longtime manager for the Men's Senior National Team as well as holding a variety of leadership positions within USA Water Polo, including the title of President from 1980-1984.
At UC Irvine, she served as the desk manager for both the men's and women's teams for over 30 years.

In 2010, the Barbara Kalbus Distinguished Volunteer Award was established by USA Water Polo, recognizing those in the sport that have gone above and beyond in volunteer service to the sport. 

VERSUS THE BEACH

• LBSU is 7-2 on the season with its only losses coming against USC (15-6) and UCSB (8-5). Last time out, the Beach defeated Indiana, 10-9
• UCI is 29-11 all-time against LBSU and won last year's meeting 10-7 in Big West action
• This will mark the first time the two teams meet this season
• Elena Kotanchyan leads the team with 25 goals while Orsi Hertzka has 20
• In goal, Eirini Patra has played in every game with 67 saves on the season and a .515 save percentage
   

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 39 goals scored, which is good for fourth in the nation while Morgan Jones has started every game in goal and has 104 saves on the season, which ranks third nationally
• Smith is second on the team with 23 goals while freshman Elena Flynn has 22 goals in her debut season

Last Time Out

• Last week, No. 6 UCI fell to No. 3 USC, 9-6, at Uytengsu Aquatics Center
• Calysa Toledo and Piper Smith each had two goals while Morgan Jones made seven saves in the cage
• UCI fell behind trailing 4-0 early in the second quarter. The Anteater made a comeback attempt in the fourth quarter coming as close as one point, 7-6, with 4:27 to play. The Trojans were able to score two late goals to seal the three-goal win

 
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 San Diego State Saturday, Feb. 29 at 1 p.m.