California Irvine Athletics

IRVINE, Calif. – The Anteaters close out their four-game home stretch with contests against No. 22/22 Brown (Mar. 25) and No. 19/18 UC Santa Barbara (Mar. 29).
 
Week Ten Notes
 
GAME SCHEDULE
No. 22/22 Brown at No. 8/7 UC Irvine
Tuesday, March 25 | 6:00 PM | Anteater Aquatics Complex
Live Stats

No. 19/18 UC Santa Barbara at No. 8/7 UC Irvine
Friday, March 28 | 12:00 PM | Anteater Aquatics Complex
Live Stats | Watch

THIS WEEK'S STORYLINES
> UC Irvine enters the week ranked eighth in the CWPA Weekly Poll and seventh in the Association of College Water Polo Coaches poll
> Sophomore Lauren Hett was named to the 20-player Peter J. Cutino watch list on Friday morning
> Hett is the first player in program history to be named to the watch list
> UCI splits the week with a non-conference meeting with No. 22/22 Brown on Mar. 25 before facing No. 19/18 UC Santa Barbara (Mar. 28) to close out the Anteaters homestand
> No. 22/22 Brown enters into the week with an 11-10 overall record and are 3-4 in the CWPA conference play
> The Bears are headed to the Golden State for a four-game stretch, first taking on No. 2 USC on Sunday (Mar. 23) and then will face both Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps the day after facing the Anteaters
> Anderson leads Brown with 42 goals then Holman and Palmer are next in the scoring with 28 and 27 goals respectively
> Washer helps the offense with 29 assists and is second on the team with 22 steals
> In goal, Hazuka has stopped 122 shots
> After almost three weeks off, No. 19/18 UC Santa Barbara will jump back into the pool for their contest with the 'Eaters, heading into it with a 13-10 overall record and sit 0-3 in the Big West
> The Gauchos have lost three straight contests, all to league foes Long Beach State (L, 11-6), Hawai'i (L, 15-7), and UC Davis (L, 12-11 OT)
> UCSB's Juju Amaral and Annie Kuester compliment each other on offense
> Amaral leads with 64 points, topping the Gauchos with 42 assists, while Kuester has posted a team-high 42 goals
> In the scoring department, Bella Mady adds 40 goals followed by Imani Clemons 36
> Ana Donleavy has spent most of the time in the cage for UCSB, playing 19 games and stopping 145 shots

NOTES
> UC Irvine is on a seven-game winning streak, improving to 11-9 overall and 3-0 in the Big West after a two-win week
> Versus Concordia University Irvine (W, 28-15)...
    -- UCI's 28 goals broke the previous record of 24 set in 2023
    -- Junior Maja Layden led UCI with a career-best five goals with a team-best seven points
    -- Both Libby Alexander and Lauren Hett finished with four goals each
    -- Sara Naulty, Madeline Kasper  and Brooke Hourigan each put away two goals
    -- Bella Calderon tossed a career-high four assists
    -- Goalkeeper Ella Walker recorded the win with eight saves, while Mayezie Loggins shared time and totaled two saves
> Against No. 23 CSUN (W, 19-6)...
    -- UCI held CSUN scoreless in the second period while pouring in seven goals to break open the game, 11-3 at the half
    -- Sophomore goalkeeper Ella Walker was impressive, recording a career-high 13 saves
    -- Redshirt senior Madi O'Hara led UCI with four goals, tying her career-high
    -- Freshman Pippa Heaver led all players with five points on career-high four assists and a goal
    -- Sophomore Lauren Hett followed with four points on three goals and an assist
    -- Rachel Kirchner was a wall in the cage, stopping 10 shots to go with two steals
    -- UCI had 14 steals, led by Hourigan and Walker with three each
    -- The shots were close with UCI letting 29 fly to CSUN's 28, but the Anteaters converted on 0.655 and the Matadors just 0.214
> Lauren Hett is the team leader at 65 points with 47 goals and 18 assists
> Hett is three goals from hitting the 50-goal season milestone and it would be the 24th time a UCI player will do so
> Brooke Hourigan next at 48 tallies (25 goals, 23 assists) followed by Nioka Thomas' 37 goals and eight assists for 45 points 
> Kennedy East and Libby Alexander both also sit above the 40-point threshold, tallying 41 each
> Madi O'Hara leads the Anteaters with 36 drawn exclusions 
> Hourigan also holds the steal lead in steals (21) while East has the top-spot in field blocks (7)
> Rachel Kirchner has 76 saves in the cage through 16 games and Ella Walker has 61 in eight