Courtesy: UC Santa Barbara Athletics
• The Schedule
Big West Women’s Water Polo Championship
Hosted by Hawaii at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex
Thurday, Apr. 21 at 4:30 p.m. PT
No. 6 UCSB (11-12, 1-5) vs. No. 3 Long Beach State (14-13, 3-3)
Live Stats | Watch on ESPN+
Big West Tournament Central Page
• Tournament Time
The No. 3 seed Gauchos begin their postseason run in Hawaii against No. 6 Long Beach State in the Big West Tournament Quarterfinals on Thursday at 4:30 PM PT. Annie Kuester and Sarah Owens both had hat tricks against LBSU this year, but UCSB fell in both of its meetings with the Beach this season, 11-8 at the Triton Invitational on Feb. 12 and 14-9 at home on Apr. 2.
Since head coach Serela Kay’s first year with the team in 2014-15, the Gauchos own a 7-5 record in Big West Tournament games, highlighted by their historical 2016 run which saw them win their first ever Big West Championship. UCSB took home third place in two of the following three years and will see its first tournament action in several years after the last two were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Snyder Leading The Offense
Utility Caitlyn Snyder has been one of the program’s top producers for the past few years, and that hasn’t changed during her redshirt junior year. The Fresno, Calif. native is averaging 1.7 goals and 2.0 assists per game, leading the team in assists (47) and points (87) while sitting second in goals scored (40). She also paces the Gauchos in drawn exclusions (32) and field blocks (12), owns an efficient .404 shooting percentage, and is second on the team with 25 steals.
• Leigh Lighting It Up
Redshirt freshman attacker Leigh Lyter is the team’s leading goalscorer with 41 this year. She also paces her squad with 29 steals and is second with 22 drawn exclusions. The former Mira Costa High School standout helped give the Gauchos their first win over a top-20 team this season, sending in an incredible buzzer-beating game-winner from near the middle of the pool to knock off then-No. 19 Princeton 15-14.
• Defending The Cage
Goalkeepers Madison Button, Taylor McEvilly and Casey Coppock have split time in the cage this year. Button (6-5) has recorded 55 saves (.357 Save %), while McEvilly (4-6) has a team-leading 58 saves (.284). McEvilly also has seven assists and 15 steals, while Button has five steals and four assists. Freshman Casey Coppock (1-1) has appeared in four games and has 14 saves on a team-best .412 save percentage.
• Offensive Punch
After Snyder (87 points) and Lyter (53), there are six other Gauchos who have contributed to at least 20 goals this season. Nina Munson comes in third on the team in total points (49) and goals (33). Sarah Owens is right behind her with 31 goals and 44 total goal contributions. Claire Kelly (36 points) joins Snyder as the only Gauchos with 20 or more assists, coming in with 26. Drew Halvorson (30 points) has 15 goals and 15 assists. Juju Amaral (30 points) has come on strong of late, now ranking third on the team with 19 assists. Finally, Annie Kuester has the fifth-most goals (25) and owns the team’s highest shooting percentage (.543).
• Strong Start
UCSB opened the year with a 4-1 record for the third time under head coach Serela Kay. The last time the Gauchos started this way in 2019, they finished with an overall record of 22-8.
• Crunch Time
The Gauchos have averaged a +5.1 margin of victory in their nine wins. They have been excellent in close games, boasting a 5-1 mark in games decided by one goal. From Jan. 22-23, they won three straight games by one goal, all of which capped off a memorable fourth quarter comeback. Against Wagner, they trailed 14-13 with 4:25 left before scoring thre straight goals. Later in the day, they came back from a three-goal third quarter deficit against Princeton before Lyter’s epic game-winner put them on top 15-14. The following day, UCSB won its third straight in miraculous fashion, overcoming a 12-9 Brown lead over the final 1:38 of regulation before taking a 14-13 overtime win.
• 2021 in Review
UCSB was only in action for a month in 2021 before the rest of its season was cancelled, finishing with an overall 3-5 record. The Gauchos opened the year with a pair of one-goal wins at No. 17 San Diego State, the 99th and 100th career wins for head coach Serela Kay. Three weeks later, they came away with a 12-10 home win over No. 11 UC Davis in their Big West opener. Amanda Legaspi ended the year atop the UCSB stat sheet with 14 goals and Caitlyn Snyder (9 goals, 6 assists) finished second on the team with 15 points.
• The Lineup
Back in the lineup for her fourth year with the team is perennial producer Caitlyn Snyder. Goalkeeper Madison Button also returns after starting in every game of 2021, when she averaged 8.8 saves per game. Nina Munson, Sarah Owens, Leigh Lyter and Claire Kelly are also among the team’s returners. The roster also welcomes 12 true freshmen. Casey Coppock and Taylor McEvilly join the goalkeeper crew; Juju Amaral, Aidan Flynn, Mackie Whitehead, Emily Ferguson and Mackenzie Murphy are on the attacking unit along with center Imani Clemons; Mel Damato and Ken Corlett bolster the defense; and Cami Mras and Annie Kuester are listed as utilities.
• 112 Wins and Counting
The 2022 season marks the eighth at the helm for Serela Kay, the Gauchos’ all-time winningest coach. Kay owns a 112-90 (.554) record since joining the team in June of 2014.
Under Kay’s leadership, five Gauchos have earned All-American status for a total of seven selections, and 13 Gauchos have earned a total of 21 All-Big West selections. In 2016, she was named the Big West Coach of the Year, becoming the first head coach in program history to be named conference coach of the year. Following that season, the program had multiple All-Americans for the first time since 1999, as the Gauchos clinched their first ever NCAA Tournament berth and earned their first ever Big West Championship and NCAA Tournament wins.
• Collegiate Water Polo National Rankings
1 USC
2 Stanford
3 UCLA
4 Hawaii
5 UC Irvine
6 Cal
7 Michigan
8 Fresno St.
9 Arizona St.
10 Long Beach St.
11 UC Davis
12 UC San Diego
13-T Wagner
13-T San Jose St.
15 Indiana
16 Pacific
17 Harvard
18-T UC Santa Barbara
18-T Loyola Marymount
20 Princeton
21 San Diego St.
22 Brown
23 Long Island
24 CSUN
25 Marist
(#6 Gauchos… against #3 LBSU, not the opposite)