GAME NOTES 

IRVINE, Calif. - No. 9 UC Irvine women's water polo team travels to Long Beach for the Big West Championship April 10-12. The Anteaters earned the No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 seed UC San Diego in the Quarterfinal on April 10 at 12 p.m. Based on the outcome of Friday's matches, the 'Eaters will face No. 1 seed Hawai'i or No. 8 seed UC Santa Barbara if they move on to the Semifinal at 2 p.m. on April 11. 

ANTEATER TIDBITS
• UCI dropped to 12-13 overall and 4-3 in Big West play falling to No. 8 Long Beach State in the regular season finale.
• The 'Eaters dropped to the Beach, 14-15, in a sudden death thriller on April 2. 
• Junior Lauren Hett led the 'Eaters with eight points on five goals and three assists. 
• Junior Sara Naulty recorded five assists against the Beach while sophomore Deirdre Murphy netted two. 
• Junior Ella Walker recorded 10 saves in net for the Anteaters. 
• UCI finished second in the Big West last season with a 5-2 conference record and 15-13 overall.
• The 'Eaters recorded 413 goals in 28 games played in 2025, a new best in single season history.
• UC Irvine has posted a winning record for 20 straight seasons.

IN THE RANKINGS
UCI stayed at 9th in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association rankings released on April 8. The 'Eaters remain in the ninth position for the fourth week in a row.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
No. 17 (No. 5 seed) UC San Diego moved to 11-12 on the season and 3-4 in Big West action after splitting their last four games of the regular season. The Tritons fell to UC Davis, 11-12, on March 27 before defeating Brown, 21-16, on March 28. UC San Diego fell to San Diego State, 8-10, on April 2 before topping UC Santa Barbara, 15-8, on April 4 in their last game of the regular season. Junior Abigail Schechter leads the Tritons in goals with 54 on the year, followed by junior Emily Cloherty with 43 tallies. Senior Bria Zwaschka leads UC San Diego in net with over 648 minutes, 181 saves, and 37 steals. 

No. 6 (No. 1 seed) Hawai'i improved to 13-5 on the season and 6-0 in conference play after winning their last two matches of the regular season. With an undefeated conference record, the Rainbow Wahine clinched their third consecutive Big West regular-season championship. Hawai'i defeated UC Santa Barbara, 18-4, on March 28 before topping Cal State Fullerton, 20-2, on April 3. Redshirt sophomore Agatha Weston leads the Rainbow Wahine in goals with 42 on the season, followed by freshman Ariadna Temprano Xambó with 34 tallies. Junior Daisy Logtens leads the Rainbow Wahine in net with over 494 minutes logged, 133 saves, and 13 steals. 

No. 8 seed UC Santa Barbara dropped to 1-18 on the season and 0-7 in Big West action after falling in their last two games of the regular season. The Gauchos fell to Hawai'i, 4-18, on March 28 before dropping to UC San Diego, 8-15, on April 4. Redshirt senior Cami Mras leads the Gauchos with 27 goals this season, followed by sophomore Loretta Hovey with 18 tallies. Redshirt Freshman Keira Wall leads UC Santa Barbara in net with 292 minutes logged, 63 saves, and 19 steals. 

LAST TIME OUT
The 'Eaters fell to No. 8 Long Beach State, 14-15, in a sudden death overtime thriller on April 2 in their final game of the 2026 regular season. Lauren Hett recorded eight points on five goals and three assists and added two steals to lead UCI against the Beach. Junior Sara Naulty dished out five assists while sophomore Deirdre Murphy netted two goals. Bella Calderon and Pippa Heaver each added a goal and a assist for a two-point outing. Junior Ella Walker recorded 10 saves and one steal in between the pipes for the Anteaters. 
  
ON THE ATTACK
The 'Eaters, who are averaging 12.4 goals per contest, have six players with at least 20 goals on the season. Lauren Hett leads the way with 70 goals and 15 hat tricks. Hett's 70 tallies is a new career-high, passing her mark of 67 goals set last season. Hett also dished out 37 assists, bringing her point total to 107, marking the first time in her career that she surpassed 100 points. Sara Naulty and Madi O'Hara rank second on the squad with 32 goals each. Freshman Michelle Urkov ranks fourth with 30 goals while sophmore Deirdre Murphy has 26 tallies on the season. Pippa Heaver rounds out the top six with 20 goals, reaching the 20-goal club for the first time in her career. 

MINDING THE NET
Junior Ella Walker has appeared in 20 of 25 games this season and started for 15 of those matches. She has logged over 532 minutes in the cage with a 8-8 record. Walker has recorded 127 saves, eight steals, and four assists, with a season-high 12 saves against No. 2 UCLA (Feb. 7). Walker owns a 10.45 goals against average and a .422 save percentage. Freshman Annie Peak has appeared in 10 games, starting in five of them, and logging 168 minutes in net. She has tallied 32 saves and 10 steals and owns a 2-3 record. Sophomore Mayezie Loggins has appeared in four games for 23 minutes in net, recording five saves and one steal. Freshman CJ Sirls appeared in two games, logging 32 minutes with four saves and one steal. 

COLLEGIATE FIRSTS
Freshman Sydney Hagan quickly made an impact for the 'Eaters, scoring seven goals in her first weekend of collegiate competition. Her first goal came against San Jose State, where she tacked on two more for her first career hat trick on Jan. 17. She notched her second hat trick in her very next game against Fresno State. Chloe Patist netted her first career goal against No. 5 California on Jan. 18. Michelle scored her first two goals against UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 30) and now leads the freshman class with 10 multi-goal games and 29 tallies. Jess Reagan netted her first career goal against UC Santa Barbara on March 6, and notched her first multi-goal game against CSUN (March 26). Anya Frey netted her first goal and notched her first hat trick against Cal State Fullerton on March 12. 

WEEKLY ACCOLADES
Junior Lauren Hett notched her fourth career, and first of the 2026 season, Big West Player of the Week Honor on Feb. 25. The attacker led the 'Eaters to their first Big West win of the season over the Tritons behind a six point performance on four goals and two assists. 

PRESEASON HONORS
Junior attacker Lauren Hett was named to the seven-member Preseason All-Big West Team as voted on by the conference's head coaches. Hett is coming of a 2025 campaign in which she led the 'Eaters with 67 goals and 97 points. Last year, she also earned a third-team All-America selection and an All-Big West First Team honor. Hett was also the first player in program history to be named to the watch list for the prestigious Peter J. Cutino award in 2025. 

NEW FACES, NEW ROLES
The 2026 roster features eight newcomers this season who look to make an immediate impact. The squad added two goalkeepers, Annie Peak and CJ Sirls, along with center Jess Reagan and defender Chloe Patist. The 'Eaters also welcomed four attackers: Sydney Hagan, Anya Frey, Michelle Urkov, and Marisol Cowles. 

ALL-BIG WEST RETURNERS
The Anteaters return three All-Big West honorees from the 2025 squad.  Lauren Hett was named to the first team, and Madi O'Hara garnered honorable mention distinction. Pippa Heaver was selected to the All-Big West Freshman Team in her rookie season