UC Irvine Water Polo Starts Weekend at UCLA, Set for 2 Home Matches

Courtesy: UC Irvine Athletics

Saturday, Feb. 16
No. 7 UC Irvine Anteaters (5-3) at No. 3 UCLA (13-1)
1:00 PM – Spieker Aquatics – Los Angeles, Calif.

Sunday, Feb. 17
No. 7 UC Irvine Anteaters (5-3) vs.  No. 20 Indiana (1-6)
12:00 PM – Anteater Aquatics Complex – Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats

No. 7 UC Irvine Anteaters (5-3) vs.  Whittier (0-1)
3:00 PM – Anteater Aquatics Complex – Irvine, Calif.
Live stats

Weekend at a Glance

  • UCI is looking for its first win in program-history against UCLA. The Anteaters are 0-2 in meetings against the Bruins this season and are 0-26 all-time against UCLA
  • Sunday’s game against Indiana will be UCI’s home-opener. It will also be the Anteaters’ Breast Cancer Awareness game and fans in attendance are encouraged to wear pink
  • UCI is 5-3 all-time against the Hoosiers. The two teams last met in 2015
  • This will be the first meeting between UCI and Whittier

More on the Bruins

  • UCLA is 13-1 on the season. The Bruins only loss came against top-ranked USC, 3-10, at last weekend’s Triton Invitational
  • Maddie Musselman leads UCLA with 27 goals on the season while Val Ayala, sister of UCI’s Danielle Ayala, has 22
  • Carlee Kapana has 80 saves in goal for a 6.28 goals against average

More on the Hooisers

  • IU is 1-6 on the season with its only win coming against UC San Diego, 8-7, in its first game of the season. Since then, the Hoosiers have lost six-straight
  • Tina Doherty has a team-high 13 goals while Izzy Mandema has seven
  • Sarah Greeven leads the Hoosiers with 73 saves

More on the Poets

  • Whittier dropped its only game of the season to Concordia, 15-6

Team Notes

  • Tara Prentice was named the Big West Women’s Water Polo Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 13 after leading the Anteaters at the Triton Invite with 10 goals. This was the first weekly honor for the ‘Eaters this season
  • Prentice leads UCI with 22 goals scored this season
  • Mary Brooks posted a season-high five against Azusa Pacific and has 15 goals on the season
  • Alyssa Schulte played in goal for the first time in her career against Cal Baptist. She has 11 saves this season
  • Morgan Jones leads the ‘Eaters with 35 saves and 112 minutes in goal
  • The ‘Eaters opened the season tied for sixth in the nation alongside Hawai’i, the sixth time in the last eight seasons opening at No. 6. UCI ranked 7th in this week’s national poll
  • The Anteaters fell to No. 3 UCLA, 10-6, to start 2019 moving its record to 13-6 all-time in season openers

Tournament Round-Up

  • UCI finished the Triton Invite with a 2-2 record behind wins against Cal State East Bay, 15-4, and UC Santa Barbara, 11-6. The Anteaters dropped both games on the second day of the invite to No. 3 UCLA, 6-11, and No. 8 Michigan, 8-9, finishing in fourth-place
  • Tara Prentice led UCI in scoring in three-out-of-four games, totaling 10 goals for the weekend
  • Danielle Ayala tallied a single-game career high four goals against Cal State East Bay
  • Morgan Jones played every game in goal

Record Pursuit

  • Mary Brooks returned to the fold in 2019 with 172 career goals scored, seventh-most in program history. She stands 52 goals away from the top spot held by Jessy Cardey with 224. Brooks would reach the mark with a pace of nearly 2.5 goals per match
  • Jenna Phreaner enters her senior season with 388 saves, fourth all-time among Anteater keepers. With 12 saves, she will become the fourth ‘Eater goalie with 400 career saves
  • The program enters its 19th season with a total of 326 wins. UCI could reach 350 wins with a 24-win season in 2019, something the team has accomplished twice (2012, 2014)
  • UC Irvine women’s water polo entered the 2019 season with 4,776 goals in program history standing 224 goals away from 5,000. The ‘Eaters have scored 224 goals in a season in 14 of 18 seasons including each season since coach Klatt took over as head coach
  • Head Coach Dan Klatt enters his 15th season as head coach of UC Irvine posting 277 wins. He will reach 300 career head coaching wins with a 23-win season in 2019, something his squads have accomplished five times (2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017)

Up Next
UCI hosts the premier tournament of the season, the Barbara Kalbus Invitational, Feb. 22-24, at Anteater Aquatics Complex.

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