Saturday, March 7
No. 5 UC Irvine Anteaters (13-5, 0-0 BWC) vs. No. 18 UC Davis (8-11, 0-0 BWC)
12:00 PM – Schaal Aquatics Center – Davis, Calif.
Live Stats

Sunday, March 8
No. 5 UC Irvine Anteaters (13-5) vs. No. 8 Cal (11-5)
1:00 PM – Spieker Aquatics Complex – Berkeley, Calif.

Weekend Storylines

• UCI is 13-5 on the season after a 12-8 home win against San Diego State last weekend
• UCI remained No. 5 in this week's national rankings
• The Anteaters face the Aggies in their Big West season-opener. UCI is 24-4 all-time against UCD and has not lost a game since to them since 2018
• This will mark the first meeting of the season between UCI and UCD
• This will be the third meeting of the season between the Anteaters and Bears. UCI defeated Cal in its season-opener, 12-7, before falling to the Bears at the Cal Cup, 12-11
• Cal is tied for No. 8 in this week's national rankings
• UCI is 2-20 all-time against Cal

About the Aggies

• No. 18 UC Davis is 8-11 on the season. The Aggies were last in action at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational where they finished 1-3
• Noelle Wijnbelt leads the team with 55 goals while Chloe Robinson is second with 40
• In goal, Sophia Noble has started every game and has compiled 153 saves for a 9.3 goals against average

About the Bears

• Cal is 11-5 on the season and will open MPSF play against UCLA on Saturday before hosting the 'Eaters
• The Bears have won three-straight games
• Brigit Mulder leads the team with 35 goals while Claire Sonne has 22
• In goal, Cassidy Ball has started 15 games and has 124 saves for a 7.83 goals against average

 
Team Notes

• 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
• The 'Eaters have five wins over top-10 teams this season
• 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 'Eaters fifth-place finish at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational was their highest since 2015
• 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 53 goals scored which is good for second in the conference and fifth in the nation
• Morgan Jones has started every game in goal and has 146 saves on the season, which ranks third nationally
• Freshman Elena Flynn is second on the roster with 34 goals while sophomore Piper Smith is third with 32

Last Time Out

• UCI earned a 12-8 win over No. 16 San Diego State at home
• Tara Prentice matched a career-high five goals, which were also a game-high
• Piper Smith also had a hat trick, scoring three goals
• Morgan Jones had eight saves 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 returns home to host Azusa Pacific Thursday, March 12 at 7 p.m.