SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The 2024 Golden Coast Conference Women’s Water Polo Championship title game is set as No. 6 LMU will take on No. 9 Fresno State after earning wins in the semifinals on Saturday.

This will be the second meeting in three years between the top-seeded Lions and second-seeded Bulldogs. The Lions defeated fourth-seed San Diego State, 18-12, in the highest scoring game in tournament history. It was their 20th straight win on the season and will be their sixth appearance in the GCC title game.

The Bulldogs are in their fourth straight title game with an 11-8 win over third-seed Pacific in the first semifinal. Fresno State will look to be the first team in GCC history to win four straight tournament titles.

Game time is 1 pm. The third-place game will feature No. 3 seed Pacific taking on No. 4 seed San Diego State at 11 am.

Championship Notes:

• Fresno State is in the title game for the fourth straight year and will look to be the first team to win four-in-a-row. They are 3-0 in the title game since joining the league in 2018.
• LMU is in the title game for the sixth time, they are 2-3 in the title game. They won the title in 2014 and 2015, and fell to Pacific in 2018 and 2019, and fell to the Bulldogs in 2022.
• This is a rematch of the 2022 title game. The Bulldogs won 11-8, their second of three straight titles.
• The Lions 18-12 win over San Diego State, the 30 combined goals is the highest scoring game in GCC tournament history.

SATURDAY RECAP

Semifinal #1: No. 2 Fresno State 11, No. 3 Pacific 8
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No. 9 Fresno State came out of the gates fast, scoring the first three goals of the game and leading 8-2 at the half, to lead them to their fourth straight GCC Championship title game. The second-seeded Bulldogs earned an 11-8 win over third-seeded and 21st-ranked Pacific in the first semifinal of the 2024 GCC Championship.

The Bulldogs (20-7) will play for their fourth straight GCC tournament title on Sunday. Reigning tournament MVP Brooke Ochoa scored five goals, giving her nine in two tournament games, which leads all scorers. Abbey Simshauser led all players with six points, earning four assists with two goals and four steals.

Pacific (16-10) was led by Ella Cowan with five assists, who has nine assists in two tournament games. Hila Futorian and Noemi Alaksza had three points each, scoring two goals with an assist.

The two teams met in last year’s title game with Fresno State earning a defensive 5-3 win. In this rematch, the Bulldogs scored three goals in their first four possessions, all coming after drawing an exclusion. Fresno State finished 3-for-8 on the powerplay and 2-for-3 on penalty shots. Pacific was 4-for-7 on the powerplay.

Semifinal #2: No. 1 LMU 18, No. 4 San Diego State 12
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Sixth-ranked and top-seed LMU erupted for an 18-12 win over 23rd-ranked and fourth-seeded San Diego State in the second semifinal of the 2024 GCC Championship. The Lions scored the first four goals of the game and never trailed to set the pace for the highest scoring game in tournament history.

LMU (27-2) has now won 20 straight games and has their best record in program history. GCC Player of the Year Ruth Arino Ruiz had eight points with three goals and five assists. Noa Sassover had five goals and Skye Nankervis had two goals and two assists.

Claudia Valdes had five points for San Diego State (16-15), scoring three goals with two assists. Five other Aztecs had two points on the game.

The Lions built the 4-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game. San Diego State fought back to cut the lead to 6-5 on a Sofia Righetti goal with 3:59 to play in the second quarter. It was as close as they would get as LMU scored five unanswered to pull away.

Fifth Place Recap: No. 6 Azusa Pacific 12, No. 5 California Baptist 11
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No. 6 seed Azusa Pacific’s Mica Schiavone scored three of the Cougars’ final four goals of the game, including the game winner with 38 seconds left to lift the Cougars to a 12-11 win over No. 5 seed California Baptist in the fifth-place game of the 2024 GCC Championship.

The Cougars (16-13) trailed 11-8 after CBU’s Adrianna Wong scored with 5:51 to play in the fourth quarter. APU then rattled of four straight goals for the win.

Schiavone started the comeback to make it 11-9 with 5:33 to play. Montana White cut the lead to 11-10 with 2:35 to play. The rest was up to Schiavone. She scored with 1:57 to play to tie the game at 11-11 to set up her game winner.

Maria Boix Pascual led all players with six points, scoring three goals with three assists for APU. Goalie Alex Airitam had 11 saves and Laia Marsinach Ortega had four points (two goals and two assists).

CBU (11-19) was led by Cyra Kahahawai, Celeste Almendaiz and Wong with three points each.

Seventh Place Recap: No. 8 Concordia 13, Santa Clara 7
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Jaden Soto made 17 saves and Tamsyn Evezard netted seven points to lead No. 8 seed Concordia to a 13-7 win over No. 7 seed Santa Clara in the seventh-place game of the 2024 GCC Championships.

The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never trailed. Their lead never dropped below two as Soto made her 17 saves in three quarters as Concordia (12-22) held Santa Clara to 7-for-35 shooting (.200), including 0-for-2 on penalty shots.

Santa Clara (7-22) was led by Kate Rodman with three goals and an assist.