#GCCWATERPOLO – The 2024 collegiate women’s water polo season will wrap-up the regular season this week. Six games remain in Golden Coast Conference action, with seedings up for grabs in the season’s final stretch.
No. 6 LMU earned at least a share of the GCC regular season championship with a 17-13 win over California Baptist last weekend. Their win wrapped up the top-seed for the upcoming GCC Championship held at Santa Clara University Apr. 26-28.
The rest of the seedings will be on the line this final regular season weekend.
Action begins on Thursday when Azusa Pacific (14-11, 2-3) travels to Irvine to take on Concordia (11-19, 0-5). Friday features a showdown for the No. 2 seed as No. 9 Fresno State (16-7, 4-1) hosts No. 20 Pacific (14-8, 3-2).
Then all eight teams will be in action on Saturday for the final league games of the season. The Lions (24-2, 6-0) will look to run their winning streak to 18 and remain unbeaten when they host Azusa Pacific (14-11, 2-3) on Saturday at noon. The Lions will look to clinch sole possession of their first regular season title.
Saturday will feature a showdown for the GCC tournament’s fourth seed between No. 23 San Diego State (14-13, 3-3) and California Baptist (11-16, 3-3). Also Saturday is Santa Clara (6-19, 1-5) at Fresno State and Pacific at Concordia.
There were five GCC games last week that set-up this final weekend. As mentioned, LMU remained unbeaten and stretched their winning streak to 17 in the shootout at CBU, 17-13. CBU split a pair of GCC games, defeating Santa Clara, 10-6, on Friday. San Diego State earned a pair of GCC wins at home, defeating Concordia, 12-8, and Santa Clara, 14-8. Fresno State traveled to Azusa Pacific and earned a 15-9 win.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Rose Kanemy, SDSU (ATT, JR, Montreal Canada): Rose Kanemy had five goals in a pair of big GCC wins last weekend to earn GCC Player of the Week honors for April 18. She scored three goals in the win over Concordia, adding three 3 assists, two steals and a field block. In the win over Santa Clara she scored two goals, with an assist, a steal and afield block.
2024 Player of the Week Winners:
Jan. 25 – Abbey Simshauser, Fresno State
Feb. 1 – Ruth Arino Ruiz, LMU
Feb. 8 – Paula Nieto Jasny, Fresno State
Feb. 15 – Hila Futorian, Pacific
Feb. 22 – Sydney Maccabe, Santa Clara
Feb. 29 – Mica Schiavone, Azusa Pacific
Mar. 7 – Claudia Valdes, San Diego State
Mar. 14 – Ruth Arino Ruiz, LMU
Mar. 21 – Dora Alaksza, Pacific
Mar. 28 – Emaly Hutton, California Baptist
Apr. 4 – Elle Fredrickson, Santa Clara
Apr. 11 – Ruth Arino Ruiz, LMU
Apr. 18 – Rose Kanemy, SDSU
TOP PERFORMANCES
Alex Airitam, APU (GK, SO, San Gabriel, CA): She had 12 saves over the two games, falling to No. 8 Fresno State and defeating Biola. Against the Bulldogs, she had four saves and two steals. Against Biola, Airitam had eight saves and posted a save percentage of .800.
Hailey Andress, FS (ATT, SO, Glendora, CA): Andress led the team with four points by three goals and one assists in the win over Azusa Pacific. She also had a team-high five steals. She led the team in scoring with her 11th hat trick of the season. Five steals are the second-most by a player in a game in program history.
Lior Ben David, LMU (ATT, SR, Ramot Menashe, Israel): Lior Ben David helped LMU clinch at least a share of the GCC regular season title with her seven-point performance on Saturday at CBU. The senior transfer scored three goals and recorded a game-high four assists to account for seven of LMU's 17 goals. Ben David gave LMU a 3-2 lead in the first quarter, keeping the Lions ahead for the rest of the game. She also scored the first two goals of the second half to double LMU's lead from two to four. Defensively, Ben David recorded two steals and drew two exclusions.
Cayleigh Carter, CBU (CTR, JR, Corinth, TX): Carter led the team in points over the weekend with nine, posting four goals and five assists in a win over Santa Clara and a shootout setback against No. 6 LMU. Carter also recorded a steal, a filed block, and two forced turnovers to help CBU split the two games. Carter was also a driving force behind the Lancers, putting up the most goals on LMU this season and the most since April 13 of last season.
Tamsyn Evezard, CUI (ATT, SR, Port Elizabeth, South Africa): She scored 12 goals over the course of Concordia's three games this past week. She was also credited with four assists and three recorded steals. She netted a career-high six goals against Pomona-Pitzer, with five of them coming during furious second half comeback. She now has 142 career goals at Concordia.
WEEK 14 PREVIEW
Thursday, Apr. 18, 2024
Azusa Pacific at Concordia – 12:15 P.M. *
Saturday, Apr. 20, 2024
Azusa Pacific at No. 6 LMU – 12:00 P.M. *
No. 23 San Diego State at California Baptist – 1:00 P.M. *
Santa Clara at No. 9 Fresno State – 1:00 P.M. *
No. 20 Pacific at Concordia – 3:15 P.M. *
Santa Clara at Fresno Pacific – 4:00 P.M.
Sunday, Apr. 21, 2024
No. 11 UC San Diego at No. 23 San Diego State – 1:00 P.M.
* - GCC Game. Find the full schedule here >>.
GCC STATS
Here are the latest stat leaders within the GCC as of Apr. 17. For full stats,
click here >>
GOALS
| ## |
NAME |
TEAM |
G |
| 1. |
Dora Alaksza |
UOP |
77 |
| 2. |
Ruth Arino Ruiz |
LMU |
72 |
| 3. |
Claudia Valdes |
SDSU |
64 |
| 4. |
Hailey Andress |
FS |
62 |
| 5. |
Tamsyn Evezard |
CUI |
61 |
ASSISTS
| ## |
NAME |
TEAM |
A |
| 1. |
Ruth Arino Ruiz |
LMU |
47 |
|
Lior Ben David |
LMU |
47 |
| 3. |
María Boix Pascual |
APU |
40 |
|
Rose Kanemy |
SDSU |
40 |
| 5. |
Skylar Ford |
APU |
39 |
POINTS
| ## |
NAME |
TEAM |
PTS |
| 1. |
Ruth Arino Ruiz |
LMU |
119 |
| 2. |
Claudia Valdes |
SDSU |
96 |
| 3. |
Dora Alaksza |
UOP |
92 |
| 4. |
Tamsyn Evezard |
CUI |
89 |
| 5. |
Abbey Simshauser |
FS |
80 |
FIELD BLOCKS
| ## |
NAME |
TEAM |
FB |
| 1. |
Kyra Kahahawai |
CBU |
15 |
|
Claudia Valdes |
SDSU |
15 |
| 3. |
Skye Nankervis |
LMU |
12 |
|
Noa Sasover |
LMU |
12 |
STEALS
| ## |
NAME |
TEAM |
STL |
| 1. |
Skye Nankervis |
LMU |
46 |
| 2. |
Hailey Andress |
FS |
42 |
| 3. |
Abbey Simshauser |
FS |
41 |
| 4. |
Dora Alaksza |
UOP |
34 |
|
Laia Marsinach Ortega |
APU |
34 |
|
Claudia Valdes |
SDSU |
34 |
SAVES
| ## |
NAME |
TEAM |
SV |
| 1. |
Tyanna Schneider |
CBU |
215 |
| 2. |
Liyara Senadheera |
SCU |
196 |
| 3. |
Jaden Soto |
CUI |
191 |
| 4. |
Paula Nieto Jasny |
FS |
155 |
| 5. |
Tiaare Ahovelo |
SDSU |
150 |
SAVE PERCENTAGE
| ## |
NAME |
TEAM |
SV |
SVPCT |
| 1. |
Alex Airitam |
APU |
143 |
.574 |
| 2. |
Inbar Geva |
LMU |
94 |
.573 |
| 3. |
Paula Nieto Jasny |
FS |
155 |
.527 |
| 4. |
Jaden Soto |
CUI |
191 |
.509 |
| 5. |
Daniela Herrero Miralles |
APU |
104 |
.495 |
GOALS-AGAINST AVERAGE
| ## |
NAME |
TEAM |
GP |
GAA |
| 1. |
Inbar Geva |
LMU |
21 |
6.67 |
| 2. |
Madison Davis |
LMU |
20 |
7.90 |
| 3. |
Alex Airitam |
APU |
25 |
8.04 |
| 4. |
Paula Nieto Jasny |
FS |
20 |
8.08 |
| 5. |
Maja Lizy Dulic |
UOP |
19 |
8.46 |
NATIONAL POLLS
College Water Polo Association Varsity Top 25
The CWPA Varsity Top 25 for week No. 13 (April 17) has a pair of GCC programs in the top-10, with LMU at No. 6 and Fresno State at No. 9. Pacific is ranked 20th, followed by San Diego State at No. 23. Azusa Pacific and California Baptist are earning votes. Find latest poll
here >>
ROAD TO THE GCC CHAMPIONSHIP
Tickets are on sale now for the 2024 Golden Coast Conference Championship. Santa Clara will host the three-day tournament April 26-28 at the Sullivan Aquatic Center. The tournament runs from Friday, April 26 through Sunday, April 28. General admission tickets are $15 for each day of action and will be treated as day passes. No all-session tickets will be available. Click
here to secure yours today. For further information, contact the Santa Clara Athletics Ticket Office via email at
broncotickets@scu.edu.
For more information about the 2024 GCC Championship, check out
tournament central. Seedings will be announced in the event of Saturday, Apr. 20 following the conclusion of all regular-season games.
LIVE STREAMING
All ten (10) games of the GCC Championship will be streamed live on the internet by new GCC partner
Overnght Media Group. This is the first season that Overnght will be streaming the GCC Championship. Links to all games of the championship will be posted on the
Tournament Central page. This new service will require a subscription fee for viewers to watch the games for a monthly fee of $9.99. Viewers can cancel their subscription at any time. For other specific questions about Overnght and their services, please visit their website at
www.overnght.com. They can also be reached via email at
support@overnght.com or their support line is (702) 625-5998.
#GCCWATERPOLO