Courtesy: CBU Athletics
RIVERSIDE – Kira O’Donell made history for California Baptist University women’s water polo when she became the first player in program history to earn four All-Golden Coast Conference awards on Tuesday.
O’Donell earned All-GCC Second Team recognition for the Lancers to add to an already incredible career. The senior attacker is also a three-time All-American and became the first player in program history to secure multiple NCAA Division I All-America accolades in 2021.
This season, O’Donell was a two-time GCC Player of the Week which gave her five on her career which is also a CBU record. She led CBU in points (96), goals (70), drawn ejections (62) and also had 26 assists, 22 steals and eight field blocks on the year.
In the GCC, O’Donell leads all players with 70 goals this year. She also ranks second with 96 points, ninth with eight field blocks and 10th with 26 assists.
O’Donell has at least one goal in the last 26 games, 17 multi-goal games, 13 hat tricks and three games with six goals or more. She tied CBU’s single-game record with seven goals against #22 Long Island on Feb. 25. In CBU’s career record books, she ranks fifth in points (381) and goals (259) and eighth in assists (122). Her 192 drawn ejections rank second in the NCAA era (2014-22).
For the first time ever, California Baptist will host the GCC Championships this weekend at the Lancer Aquatics Center. The conference tournament champion will earn the lone automatic qualifier for the NCAA Championships.
The Lancers open the GCC Championships against No. 1 overall seed Fresno State on Friday, April 22 at 4 p.m. The Bulldogs are the defending GCC champions and are currently ranked eighth in all of the NCAA with a 16-7 overall record and 7-0 conference mark.
