No. 5 Anteaters Set for Triton Invitational

Saturday, February 8

La Jolla, Calif.

10:40 AM

UC Irvine

Santa Clara

No. 5 Anteaters Set for Triton Invitational

February 06, 2020 | Women's Water Polo

By: Sarah Zetlmeisl

FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
Triton Invitational
Tournament Central
Canyonview Aquatics Center – La Jolla, Calif.
Saturday, Feb.8 and Sunday, Feb. 9

Saturday, Feb. 8
No. 5 UC Irvine Anteaters (6-2) vs. Santa Clara (2-1)
10:40 AM – Canyonview Pool – La Jolla, Calif.

No. 5 UC Irvine Anteaters (6-2) vs. Arizona State/CSUN
5:20 PM or 4:00 PM – Canyonview Pool – La Jolla, Calif.

Sunday, Feb. 9
No. 5 UC Irvine vs. TBA

No. 5 UC Irvine vs. TBA

Weekend Storylines

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 remained at No. 5 in this week's national rankings
UCI's previous highest ranking was No. 4 after the 2012 season
The Anteaters finished last year's Triton Invite with a 2-2 record, winning games against CS East Bay (15-4) and No. 7 UCSB (11-7), while falling to No. 3 UCLA (11-6) and No. 8 Michigan (9-8)
UCI is 16-8 over the last six years at the Invitational, appearing in the championship game four times in that stretch
The event features 16 teams, with 13 currently ranked in the CWPA Top 25. Highlighting the field is top-ranked USC
In addition to No. 5 UC Irvine and No. 1 USC, the following teams will also be in action this weekend: No. 3 UCLA, No. 7 UC San Diego, No. 8 Arizona State, No. 9 UC Santa Barbara, No. 9 Michigan, No. 9 UC Davis, No. 12 Long Beach State, No. 16 Loyola Marymount, No. 21 San Diego State, No. 22 CSUN, No. 24 Marist, Villanova, Pomona-Pitzer and Santa Clara

About the Broncos

Santa Clara is 2-1 on the season with wins against Fresno Pacific and CS Monterey Bay
UCI is undefeated all-time against the Broncos and lead the series, 8-0
UCI and Santa Clara last met at the 2018 Triton Invite as the Anteaters won a 16-3 decision
Hailey Eberle leads the team with seven goals while Lauren Baglietto is right behind with six
Lydia Dadd has started every game in goal and has 30 saves on the season

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 25 goals scored while Morgan Jones has started every game in goal and has 72 saves on the season

UCLA Mini Invite

Last week, UCI earned two wins at the UCLA Mini Invite against San Jose State, 11-7, and Fresno State, 15-11
Prentice finished with seven goals over the two games while Elena Flynn and Toni Shackelford each had six
Shackelford tallied a career-high five goals against Fresno State
Morgan Jones finished the day with a .438 save percentage, playing both games in the cage

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 heads to Los Angeles to play No. 1 USC Saturday, Feb. 15 at 12 p.m.