UC San Diego Women’s Water Polo Hosts Big West Tournament, Opens Against UCI

Courtesy: UC San Diego Athletics

LA JOLLA, Calif. – The No. 9 UC San Diego water polo team play in the Big West tournament for the first time in program history. The tournament will be hosted by UC San Diego and will be held at Caynonview Aquatic Center. The Tritons, who enter as the two seed, will face the number three seed UC Irvine.

DETAILS
No 9 UC San Diego (9-7, 3-2 BW) vs No. 7 UCI (11-7,2-2 BW)
Saturday, May 1 at 4:00 pm

Sunday, May 2 at 12:00 pm*
Canyonview Aquatics Center
Live Stats | BigWest TV | Championship Hub

*Tritons will play in the championship game if they win on Saturday

UC SAN DIEGO AND COVID-19
UC San Diego’s nationally renowned Return to Learn program was created to return to in-person teaching, learning, conducting pioneering research and serving our communities in the safest way possible. The program has three adaptive pillars that are central to our strategy to resume on-campus activity: risk mitigation, viral detection, and intervention.

For the latest information on UC San Diego and COVID-19, please visit the University’s Return to Learn site.

COVID ATTENDANCE POLICY 
No spectators will be granted entrance to Canyonview Aquatic Center. There will be no player guest tickets provided as well.

WHAT’S AT STAKE

The winner of the Big West Tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship that will take place from May 14-16.

LAST TIME OUT
The Tritons dropped both games to UC Irvine last weekend. Despite a strong effort in the fourth quarter of their conference match-up with the Anteaters, the Tritons were not able to come back from the deficit.

BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Annika Arroyo was named the Big West Player of the Week on April 14, marking the second time this season s has won the award. The freshman had a four-goal performance in the Triton’s win over UC Davis and sits in third in the conference with 19 goals on the season. Previously, Ciara Franke was named Big West Player of the Week on March 31 and Bennett Bugelli earned the honor on February 24.

USE CREDIT UNION TRITON ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Arroyo was named the USE Credit Union Athlete of the Week on April 12. Previously, Bennett Bugelli  was named Athlete of the Week on March 22, Arroyo was also named the Triton Athlete of the Week on March 15 and Ciara Franke earned the honor on March 1.

2020 BIG WEST SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Franke was named UC San Diego’s 2020 Big West Female Scholar-Athlete of the year. Each institution is awarded one male and female award winner. The award acknowledges their accomplishments on the field, in the classroom, and in their communities.

BIG WEST RANKED NATIONALLY
6. Hawai’i
T-7. UC Irvine
9. UC San Diego

10. UC Davis
    15. Long Beach State

    100 GOALS CLUB
    Grace Pevehouse(163) and Ciara Franke (149) have scored over 100 goals in their careers. Next closest player is Jessee Ransone with 69.
    
    RECORD WATCH
    With 629 career saves, Bennett Bugelli ranks ninth all time. Currently, Kaitlin Foe ranks eighth with 634 saves.

    HEAD COACH BRAD KREUTZKAMP
    Kreutzkamp is in his 12th season as Head Coach of the women’s team. He has a career record of 244-168. With two more wins, he will overtake Denny Harper as winningest coach in program history.

    UC SAN DIEGO ATHLETICS LAUNCHES WEEKLY PODCAST
    As part of UC San Diego’s transition to Division I, the Athletics Department launched a weekly podcast, Tritoncast. Produced by UC San Diego Athletics Communications, Tritoncast features in-depth interviews with UC San Diego personalities including scholar-athletes, alums, coaches, and administrators. Triton fans will get an inside look at the UC San Diego Athletics Department as the program transitions to NCAA Division I and the Big West Conference.

    New episodes of Tritoncast are available each week on the most popular podcasting apps, including Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Audible, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn. In addition, each episode can be heard and downloaded on UCSDTritons.com. For individual show information and listen links, follow Tritoncast on Twitter @Tritoncast.

    FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
    Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UC San Diego home athletic events, and much more!

    GEAR
    For the latest Triton apparel and accessories, visit the official team store of the Tritons here.

    HOW TO FOLLOW
    Keep up with the Tritons all season long on social media through Twitter and Instagram. The team’s social media handle is @UCSDwwp.

    UP NEXT
    If the Tritons beat UC Irvine on Saturday, they will go on to play in the championship game on May 2 at noon.