Poughkeepsie - The Wagner College women's water polo team is set to compete at the 2024 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament at Marist from Saturday, April 27 to Sunday, April 28.
Wagner fluctuated between the 17th-ranked and 19-ranked positions in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) poll throughout most of the season. The Seahawks will head into the MAAC Tournament as the 16th-ranked team in the country after concluding the season with an undefeated mark in conference play.
The undefeated regular season champions will have a chance to advance to the NCAA Championships at the University of California from Friday, May 10 to Sunday, May 12.
The Seahawks will open the tournament at 1:00 pm on Saturday. The Green & White will face the lowest-ranked remaining team out of the winners of the LIU/Mount St. Mary's, and Iona/La Salle quarterfinal games.
If Wagner wins its semifinal matchup on Saturday, then the Seahawks will contend for the MAAC Championship at 1:00 pm on Sunday. Wagner will look to win its eighth conference tournament title in the last 11 seasons.
Regular Season Success:
Over the course of the last nine seasons, Wagner has earned an impressive 88-1 record against MAAC opponents when competing within the regular season.
The only loss came when the Seahawks and the Marist Red Foxes received double-forfeits losses prior to a scheduled match on April 15, 2019. Wagner's last MAAC loss came on April 11, 2015 against Marist.
Since the 2015 season, Wagner's lowest win percentage throughout a season came during the 2017 campaign when the Seahawks finished the year 26-11 overall.
Since 2020, the Green & White have accumulated a regular season record of 94-13.
Climbing The Leaderboards:
The Seahawks began their 2024 season as the 20th-ranked team in the nation, according to the CWPA.
Wagner moved up to the 18th-ranked team in the CWPA poll after going undefeated at the Bruno Classic in early February. There, the Green & White defeated #18 Harvard and #25 Pomona-Pitzer at two different venues.
The last time the Seahawks were ranked as the 16th best team in the nation back on April 5, 2023. Then, Wagner and Indiana were tied at the spot after both receiving 38 points in the poll that week.
Season Summary:
Wagner began its 2024 season at the ASU Invite, gaining two wins on their first weekend of competition. The Seahawks then went 4-0 at the Bruno Classic the next weekend.
The Green & White then went undefeated over two games at the Princeton Invite from February 17 to February 18. Wagner wrapped up the first half of their season after an undefeated two days at the Harvard Invite.
After a three week hiatus away from the pool, Wagner began conference play with three wins at the VMI Tournament on March 16 to March 17.
The Seahawks defended the Spiro Sports Center with wins against La Salle and Villanova on March 23.
Prior to the matchup against the Wildcats, graduate student Pip Nash, senior Grace Coleman, senior Mar Navarro, and senior Andrea Arias were honored for their time and effort spent as a member of the women's water polo program. The very next day, the Seahawks defeated VMI and LIU at the Steinberg Wellness Center.
On March 28, Wagner traveled to Princeton, NJ to play against #16 Tigers. Where the Seahawks suffered their lone overtime loss of the year.
In April, Wagner won five games against MAAC opponents, defeating LIU, Iona, VMI, La Salle, and Villanova to end the season.
Newcomers Making A Difference:
The Seahawks welcomed seven new faces to the program at the beginning of the season, including; goalie Jillian Flemming, attackers Sarah Potter, Ana Arias, Madison Armijo, Kristen Alexander, Catherine Mentz, and attacker/utility Maylen Sampedro Tarela.
Ana Arias was named the conference's Rookie of the Week four times throughout the year. Arias finished the year with 31 goals, 25 assists, 21 steals, 9 drawn exclusions, across 31 games, highlighted by a seven goal performance against VMI on March 24.
Arias completed her first season with a shooting percentage of 67.4%.
Maylen Sampedro Tarela is currently tenth on the Seahawks in total points, accumulating 15 goals, 11 assists, 16 steals, and 11 drawn exclusions on her first season on Grymes Hill. The Barcelona, Spain native recorded three multi-goal games this season.
Catherine Mentz connected on 10 shots during the regular season of her freshman year.
As a group, the freshman class accounted for 12.8% of the Seahawks goals.
In net, Jillian Hemming appeared in 12 games for the Green & White. Overall, the Huntington Beach, CA native spent 134 minutes and 59 seconds in goal for the Green & White.
Hemming earned two wins throughout the season. The first came against #25 Pomona-Pitzer at the Bruno Classic in early February. The second win came against MAAC member VMI in late March. Across both victories, Hemming denied six shots and played for at least 22 minutes in each game.
Preseason Noise:
For the ninth consecutive season, the Wagner Seahawks were listed as a part of the CWPA Top-25 Preseason Poll.
Throughout the course of the year, Wagner faced-off against eight other teams who were listed on the CWPA's Top-25 Preseason Poll, including #14 Arizona State and #18 LMU on the first weekend of the regular season.
Wagner was picked to finish second within the MAAC during this season, trailing LIU by one vote in the Coaches Preseason Poll.
Overall, the Seahawks were granted four first place votes out of the possible nine. The Sharks received the other five votes.
Senior Andrea Arias and junior Carlota Alonso were listed as two of seven athletes on the All-MAAC Preseason Team.
Sophomore Francesca Sena joined the Spaniards on the 2024 preseason team while also being tabbed as the conference's 'Preseason Goalie of the Year'. Sena returned after earning MAAC 'Co-Rookie of the Year' during the 2023 campaign.
For Arias, this was her second consecutive year being named to the All-MAAC Preseason Team.
Numbers Never Lie:
The Seahawks averaged 14.5 goals per game during the 2024 season, while allowing only 8.8 goals per game. In conference action, the Green & White scored 16.5 goals per game while keeping MAAC opponents to 9.8 goals per game.
Also in conference play, Wagner put up an average of 29.8 shot attempts per game; concurrently, the Seahawks held MAAC opponents to 17.3 shot attempts per game.
The Green & White scored more goals in the first quarter of their games than any other quarter. Wagner scored 156 of their 454 goals in the opening frame, while scoring 99 goals in the second quarter, 110 in the third quarter, 88 in the fourth quarter, and one overtime goal against #16 Princeton.
On defense, the Seahawks collected 405 steals and 247 saves, for an average of 8.0 saves per game. In MAAC competition, Sena and Hemming have combined to deny 112 shots to total an average of 8.6 saves per conference game.
Setting The Standard:
Wagner received 15 weekly conference awards over the course of the year; including four Rookie of the Week awards, six Offensive Player of the Week awards, and five Defensive Player of the Week awards.
Ana Arias earned all Rookie of the Week honors, Francesca Sena was responsible for all five Defensive Player of the Week honors. Carlota Alonso and Andrea Arias both obtained three Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Midway through the season, Andrea Arias was tabbed to the second Cutino Award Watch List.
This list was created to recognize the best players in men's and women's college water polo. This season's list was composed of 22 athletes across the country.
Individually, Carlota Alonso led the Seahawks in goals, points, and steals this year. Alonso completed her season with 104 goals while dishing out 37 assists across 31 games played. The Barcelona, Spain native connected on 59.4% of her 175 shots while adding 56 steals and drawing 17 exclusions.
Andrea Arias finished third on the Seahawks in total points. Arias scored 89 goals on 150 shot attempts with 32 assists to her totals. Arias added 25 steals and team-high 86 drawn exclusions to her senior year stat-line.
Fellow senior Mar Navarro is second on the roster in points, finishing her season with a team-high 75 assists to go along with 48 goals across 87 shot attempts. Navarro also adds 45 steals and 20 drawn exclusions to her totals.
On defense, Francesca Sena spent 927 minutes in net over 30 games, and 29 starts for the Green & White, closing her sophomore season with a record of 24-4. Sena added 240 saves, 46 steals, and 17 assists to her season totals, allowing 9.08 goals per game.
Magali Ogg added 36 goals and 51 assists across 65 shot attempts during her second year. Ogg collected 52 steals and drew 23 exclusions on the season.
Recently, Head coach Josh Hower headlined three individual MAAC individual honors ahead of the 2024 conference tournament from Friday, April 26 to Sunday, April 28.
Hower became the fifth coach in the program's history to earn the Coach of the Year honor, after being at the helm of two separate 10-game winning streaks during this season.
Along with Hower, Francesca Sena earned Goalie of the Year while Pip Nash received Defensive Player of the Year.
Along with the three individual honors, junior Carlota Alonso and senior Andrea Arias earned First Team All-MAAC honors.
About The MAAC Tournament:
The 2024 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference will be played at the Marist Natatorium in Poughkeepsie, NY. The opening round of the tournament will take place on Friday, April 26, the semifinal round will be played on Saturday, April 27, and the MAAC Championships will be held on Sunday, April 28 at 1:00 pm.
The McCann Natatorium is a 265,000-gallon facility, ranging in depth from 4 feet to 13 feet, that provides six 25-yard lanes and an independent diving well.
Along with the Seahawks; Marist, LIU, Mount St. Mary's, Iona, and La Salle will contend for the 2024 MAAC title, and a trip to the NCAA Tournament at the University of California in May.
