Women's Water Polo 2022 Season Preview

Friday, January 21

Tempe, Ariz.

12:30 PM

UC Irvine

Arizona State

kili-skibby-uci-wwp-2021-lbsu-2022-season-preview

Photo by: Robert Huskey

Women's Water Polo 2022 Season Preview

January 19, 2022 | Women's Water Polo

By: Alex Roberts-Croteau


Tournament	ASU Cross Conference Challenge
Dates	January 21-23, 2022
Location	Tempe, Ariz. - Mona Plummer Aquatic Center
Times	Friday - 12:30 PM #4 Arizona State Pac-12 Live Stream Live Stats	Saturday - 7:30 AM #10 Fresno State Live Stats	Saturday - 12:30 PM #8 Michigan Live Stats	Sunday - 9:00 AM #5 Cal Pac-12 Live Stream Live Stats
Opponents
Live Stream
Live Stats
Match Notes	UC Irvine Women's Water Polo Notes
Social Media	@UCIwwp @UCIwwp UC Irvine Women's Water Polo #RipEm #TogetherWeZot

STORYLINES
· The Anteaters finished the 2021 season ranked seventh nation according to the CWPA national rankings. The program was ranked as high as No. 4 where it started the season. It starts 2022 also as the No. 7 program.
· UCI went 2-2 in Big West play to finish third in the regular season. The Anteaters ended its season in the Big West Tournament Final falling 9-8 to Hawai'i down in La Jolla.
· UCI's 12-8 record in a limited amount of matches mark the 16th straight winning season for the program.
· The program is now 372-273 over 645 matches in its 22 years of existence. The 2021 season marked the 16th straight winning season for the program, all coming under Head Coach Dan Klatt who has amassed a 338-173 record in his 17 seasons. Coach Klatt was also inducted into the Clovis Unified Hall of Fame.

ANTEATER ACCOLADES
· The Anteaters were honored academically with 23 on the ACWPC All-Academic Team and 13 on the Big West Spring All-Academic Team.
· In the pool, three were named ACWPC All-Americans including graduates Morgan Jones and Megan Falcon, and a lone returner in Piper Smith on the Second Team who led the squad in scoring with 26 goals.
· Six Anteaters earned All-Big West honors with Smith and Jones on the First Team. Falcon made Second Team with returner Sarah Nichols. Two more returners were honored as Jessica Lynch was Honorable Mention, and All-Freshman Team was occupied by Kili Skibby.
· UCI brought home its share of player of the week awards in 2021 as well with Piper Smith, Morgan Jones, Dani Ayala, and Jensine Bugelli accounting for the five weekly awards.
· Three-time All-American Tara Prentice returns after sitting out the 2021 season to train of the 2021 Olympics. Prentice enters the season with 168 career goals.

ASU CROSS CONFERENCE CHALLENGE
· The 2022 season begins with a bang traveling to Tempe and hosts Arizona State in their Cross Conference Challenge which will pit the Anteaters in four matches against four top-10 squads.
· The 'Eaters start their season against hosts No. 4 Arizona State. The sides last squared off in 2020 with UCI winning at the Triton Invite and ASU returning the favor at the Barbara Kalbus. ASU was 14-12 in 2021 earning a trip to the NCAAs wear they beat Michigan in the opener, 9-5, before falling to USC in the semis.
· UCI plays twice Saturday beginning early with No. 10 Fresno State fresh off a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2021 after going 13-6. UCI topped the Bulldogs twice in their first-ever meetings in 2020.
· UCI's Saturday afternoon match will be with No. 8 Michigan. UCI won their last two meetings in 2020 at the UCSB and Barbara Kalbus Invites. The Wolverines were 21-5 in 2021 ending with a loss to ASU in the NCAAs. Top scorers grad student Maddie O'Reilly and Hungarian sophomore Kata Utassy are back for 2022.
· The weekend ends Sunday morning against No. 5 Cal. Canadian Olympian Emma Wright returns after training for the last two seasons. She leads a Cal squad that was 12-7 a year ago and lost 2 of 3 to UCI in 2020.