Tournament Page
Santa Barbara, CA – The #23 Wagner College women's water polo team will open the 2022 season with four games at the UC Santa Barbara Winter Invite this weekend.
Nationally Recognized
For the seventh consecutive year the Seahawks have been ranked in the College Water Polo Association (CWPA) preseason poll. Despite not competing last season, Wagner claimed a #19 ranking in the 2021 poll. The Green & White are one of two Metro-Atlantic Conference (MAAC) teams in the Top-25, with Marist coming in at #22.
Along with Wagner and Marist, LIU and La Salle join the two teams as MAAC institutions getting recognition by the CWPA.
Out of the 25 teams in the preseason poll, the Seahawks will play nine ranked teams this season: #3 UCLA, #9 UC San Diego, #11 Indiana, #15 San Diego State, #18 UC Santa Barbara, #20 Harvard, #21 California Baptist, #22 Marist and #24 Bucknell.
The Seahawks will battle #3 UCLA, #9 UC San Diego and #18 UC Santa Barbara this weekend. The fourth team the Green & White will face, Azusa Pacific, received votes in the CWPA preseason poll.
About The Seahawks
12 out of 19 Seahawks have yet to participate in a game for Wagner as nine out of the 12 are newcomers along with three sophomores. Returning for the Seahawks are two juniors, four seniors and one fifth year.
Wagner returns its three top scorers from the 2020 season, the list includes senior
Sofia Diaz Alvarez (52), fifth year
Malia Josephson (45) and junior
Abbey Simshauser (44). The three players accounted for 53.2 percent of the Seahawks scoring in the 2020 season. Diaz Alvarez is currently 11th in program history with 160 goals while Josephson is 12th with 112 career goals.
The Seahawks also return their leading sprint winners,
Sofia Diaz Alvarez (15-1) and junior
Skye Nankervis (24-6).
About The UC Santa Barbara Winter Invite
This is the 10th time in 11 seasons UC Santa Barbara will host the Winter Invitational, last season was the only time the Gauchos didn't host the event last season since 2012.
12 teams will be participating in this year's installment of the event: UC Santa Barbara, Azusa Pacific, Iona, Indiana, Brown, California Baptist, Wagner, Princeton, UCLA, UC San Diego, San Jose State and Ottawa University. The Seahawks will play nine of the teams in the tournament this season.
History At The UC Santa Barbara Invite
The Seahawks will participate in the UC Santa Barbara Winter Invitational for the third time in program history as they have a 4-6 overall record. The last time they participated, in 2019, the Seahawks lone victory came against #15 UC San Diego. In 2016, the Green & White played in six contests while defeating Azusa Pacific, California Baptist and #17 Long Beach State.
About Azusa Pacific
The Cougars will begin their 2022 season against the Seahawks as they finished the 2021 season with a 4-4 mark. The Division II program is led by head coach Julia Snodgrass and reigning national player of the year sophomore Milena Guzman Ortiz. The Seahawks are looking for their sixth victory over the Cougars in seven attempts.
About #3 UCLA
The third ranked team in the country will open their season against the Seahawks. The Bruins finished the 2021 season with a 15-5 record and a trip to the NCAA Championship game where the Bruins fell short to in-state rival USC. UCLA is led by former Bruin and current men's water polo coach Adam Wright. UCLA returns their three top goal scorers from the 2021 campaign: Hannah Palmer, Abbi Hill and Ava Johnson.
About #9 UC San Diego
The Tritons are led by twelfth yeah head coach Brad Kreutzkamp and will be entering their third season in the Big West Conference. The Tritons return their top two scorers from a year ago, Ciara Franke and Annika Arroyo, the pair tallied 66 goals out of 159 goals. Last season, UC San Diego finished with a 9-8 record and fell to UC Irvine in the Big West Tournament Semifinals.
About #18 UC Santa Barbara
The hosts of the tournament will compete in six contests at the event with its third game coming against the Seahawks. The Gauchos are led by eighth-year head coach Serela Kay who is the all-time winningest coach in program history. The Gauchos finished the 2021 regular season with a 3-5 overall record.
After the UC Santa Barbara Winter Invite, the Seahawks will head to Lewisburg, PA to participate in four games at the Bucknell Invitational beginning on January 29.
