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Big West Championships
April 30-May 2
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Saturday, May 1

No. 3 seed, No. 7 ranked UC Irvine Anteaters (11-7, 2-2) vs. No. 2 seed, No. 9 ranked UC San Diego (9-7, 3-2)
4:00 PM– Canyonview Aquatic Center – La Jolla, Calif.
Live Stats | Live Video

Sunday, May 2
Championship Game
12:00 PM – Canyonview Aquatic Center – La Jolla, Calif.
Live Stats | Live Video

COVID ATTENDANCE POLICY 
No spectators will be granted entrance to Canyonview Aquatic Center. There will be no player guest tickets provided as well.

BIG WEST TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW
- The winner of the Big West Tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship that will take place from May 14-16 in Los Angeles
- No. 3 seed UCI earned a first round bye and will head straight to the semifinals to meet No. 2 seed UCSD Saturday, May 1 at 4 p.m.
- If UCI wins, it will play in the championship game Sunday, May 2 at 12 p.m.
- Hawai'i earned the top seed, UC Davis is No. 4 followed by Long Beach State as No. 5
- All matches will feature live stats via the FOSH and live video (BigWest.TV)
 
HISTORY AT THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT
- The Anteaters have won the Championship seven times, (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018) the most out of any Big West school
- The 2020 Big West Tournament was canceled due to COVID-19. In 2019's tournament, UCI went in as the No. 1 seed and fell to No. 2 seed Hawai'i, 6-7, in the championship game
- UCI has met UH four times in the Big West Championship finals as all but one meeting has been decided in overtime
- UCI has won the Big West Tournament two out of the last three years, as both wins were decided in sudden-death overtime
 
A Look at the Tournament Field
- UH won the Big West regular season title, earned the No. 1 seed and ranks sixth nationally. The 'Bows are riding a nine-game winning streak and finished the conference season 3-1. UH is 9-1 overall on the season with its only loss coming against UCSD
- UC San Diego earned the No. 2 seed after finished the conference season, 3-2. The Tritons sit at 9-7 overall. UCSD fell to UCI and Long Beach State in conference competitions
- Fourth-seeded UC Davis finished 2-2 in Big West action. The Aggies earned wins against LBSU and UCI and suffered losses to Hawaii and UCSD
- LBSU will be the lowest seed at No. 5. The Beach earned a conference win against UCSD but lost to all other conference opponents
- UCSB and CSUN opted out of the season
 
UCI TOURNAMENT RECORDS AGAINST BIG WEST OPPONENTS

• Vs. CSUN – 4-0
• Vs. LBSU – 5-0
• Vs. UCD – 8-0
• Vs. UCSB – 2-1
• Vs. UH – 1-3
• Vs. UCSD – 0-0

STORYLINES
- UCI will meet UCSD for the fifth time this season. The Anteaters have won all four previous meetings including back-to-back victories against the Tritons last weekend in La Jolla. Earlier in the season, UCI won two home games on March 5 and 6 by scores of 8-1 and 9-7, respectively.
- The Anteaters improved to 11-7 on the season and 2-2 in Big West competition after sweeping both contests at UCSD last weekend
- UCI earned a No. 4 preseason national ranking by the CWPA, marking the highest rank in program history to open a season. The Anteaters moved to No. 7 in this week's rankings
- The Anteaters are 15-6 in season openers including wins in four of their last five
- Before the cancellation of the 2020 season, UCI was riding a five-game winning streak and a No. 5 national ranking. The 'Eaters ended the short season with a 15-5 overall record
- 27 Anteaters will suit up for the 2021 season. UCI's 2021 squad is heavy veteran team with 14 upperclassman
- UCI welcomes five new faces to the 2021 roster
- Dan Klatt returns for his 17^th season at the helm in 2021 with a 337-171 overall record

STAT LEADERS
Goals: Smith (24)
Points: Smith (30)
Assists: Shackelford (9)
Steals: Smith (10), Nichols (10)
Saves: Morgan Jones (124)
Sprints: Smith (24-7)

ABOUT THE TRITONS
> UCI is 4-0 against UCSD this season and 23-13 all-time against the Tritons
> The 'Eaters have won 20 of the last 21 meetings with the Tritons
> UCSD's goalkeeper Bennett Bugelli is the sister of Jensine Bugelli
> This will be the first time the two teams meet in the BWT as UCSD joined the Big West this season

BIG WEST PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
> UCI's Piper Smith, Morgan Jones (2x), Danielle Ayala and Jensine Bugelli  have all earned Big West Player of the Week honors this season
> Smith was named POW for the first time after helping UCI sweep UCSD last weekend. She tied a career-high five goals in Friday's Big West contest and followed that up with the game-winning goal on Saturday
> Jones has been named POW twice this season after helping UCI to a sweep of Long Beach State (March 20-21) and two wins over UC San Diego (March 5-6).
> Against LBSU, Jones allowed just nine goals while playing all 64 minutes as the Anteaters outscored the Beach, 22-9. Jones finished the weekend with 18 saves
> Against UCSD, Jones tallied 24 saves in goal over two games, finishing with a .909 save percentage in an 8-1 win in game one and a season-high 14 saves in the 'Eaters 9-7 victory in the second game
> Ayala was named POW after leading the 'Eaters with four points against USC (two goals, two assists) Feb. 13
> After scoring her first career goals against CBU, sophomore Jensine Bugelli was named the first Big West Player of the Week for 2021
> Bugelli tied the team best with two goals in UCI's 11-5 win over CBU. She followed that up a few hours later with a team-high three goals in UCI's 16-3 victory against the Lancers

PRENTICE NAMED 2021 BIG WEST SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Redshirt Tara Prentice was named UC Irvine's 2021 Big West Female Scholar-Athlete of the year. Each institution is awarded one male and female award winner. The award acknowledges their accomplishments on the field, in the classroom, and in their communities.

MISSING FROM THE ACTION
> UCI will be missing two of its top-scorers from last season in graduate Tara Prentice and sophomore Elena Flynn. The duo will be redshirting in 2021. Additional redshirts include freshman Brooke Banta and Airian Grisham

SISTER, SISTER
> Senior Toni Shackelford will be joined this year by her younger sister, freshman Sabina
> Also, on the roster are sisters Portia and Mica Schiavone, who are both sophomores
> The sister connection runs deep at UCI as senior Calysa Toledo also played with her older sister Corinna (2018 graduate) and sophomore Sydney Milham's older sister Mackenzie (2017 graduate) also played for UCI

COACHING STAFF
> Head coach Dan Klatt returns for his 17^th season at the helm with 328 career wins at UCI
> Associate head coach Andrew Rowe returns for his 12^th season with the 'Eaters
> Director of Operations Bruce Reynolds enters his 18^th year at UCI