After going 7–0 in the Western Water Polo Association, the No. 13-ranked UCSD women’s water polo team will go into the conference tournament with the No. 1 seed.
The Tritons (22–13 overall) finish in front of reigning champion second-seed Loyola Marymount University (18–12 overall, 6–1 in the WWPA). The third seed goes to Cal State East Bay (16–15 overall, 2–5 in the WWPA), and Santa Clara University takes the fourth seed. All eight teams will take part in the tournament, hosted at the Sullivan Aquatic Center in Santa Clara, Calif.
The Tritons hosted their last home game of the season, taking down Cal State San Bernardino 15–4. Freshman Julia Kirkland and sophomore Rachel Brooks both slated hat tricks against the Coyotes.
UCSD finished its regular season on the road last Saturday, April 20 against No. 8 San Diego State in the 12th Annual Harper Cup, named after UCSD men’s water polo head coach Denny Harper. The Tritons fell 6–4 to the Division-I Aztecs. Despite the loss, the Tritons seem to have garnered some momentum coming into the tournament.
“It’s part of the reason we schedule [the Harper Cup] this late in the season, so that both teams can get one last tune-up against each other as we go into our conference tournament,” UCSD head coach Brad Kreutzkamp said to the UCSD Athletics Department. “If we can play like this in our conference tournament, then I think we’ll be looking really good.”
UCSD junior Sarah Lizotte — fourth in the league in goals (78), third in assists (52) and ninth in the league in steals (45) — was named the WWPA Player of the Year, April 20.
Joining Lizotte on the All-WWPA First Team were junior center Melissa Bartow and freshman goalkeeper Courtney Miller. Freshman Alexis Wieseler earned Honorable Mention All-Conference distinction as well as All-WWPA Freshman Team honors.
“It’s a tremendous honor, and I’m really grateful, and I could not have done it without my team,” Lizotte said. “It’s hard when not everyone can get recognized, and I feel like this was really in recognition of the team and all that we’ve accomplished so far this year.”
No. 1 UCSD will face No. 8 Cal State San Bernardino this Friday, April 26 at 9:30 a.m. in the opening game of the tournament.
If the Tritons take the first round match, UCSD will play against the winner between No. 4 Colorado State and No. 5 Sonoma State the following day. The championship game will be played Sunday, April 28 at 2 p.m.
“I definitely have high expectations for the team,” Lizotte said. “Either way, whoever we end up matching up against down the road, we need to come out ready to play and get to nationals.”