Berkeley, CA - The Wagner College women's water polo team will compete against #1 UCLA on Friday, May 10 at the Spieker Aquatics Center.
The Seahawks defeated Biola, 15-14, in the Opening Round of the 2024 Water Polo Championships to advance to the First Round of the tournament.
Last Time Out
Wagner defeated #24 Biola in the Opening Round of the NCAA Championships by a score of 15-14.
Senior Andrea Arias and junior Carlota Alonso both scored five goals a piece.
Senior Mar Navarro and freshman Maylen Sampedro Tarela both added two goals for the Seahawks.
Sophomore Magali Ogg scored one goal to bring her season total to 39 goals.
At halftime, Wagner held a 10-8 lead after scoring five goals in both the first and second quarters.
The Green & White finished their Opening Round matchup scoring three goals in the third, and two in the fourth.
Sophomore Francesca Sena played all 32 minutes in net for the Seahawks, earning her 27th win of the 2024 campaign.
Eight In 11 Years
Wagner captured its eighth MAAC championship in the last 11 seasons with an exciting 9-8 victory over Marist on Sunday, April 28.
In the tournament semifinals, the Seahawks defeated Mount St. Mary's by a score of 16-9 to advance to the conference championship match.
Andrea Arias was named the MAAC Tournament MVP after scoring seven goals across Wagner's two games.
Alonso and Navarro joined Arias on the MAAC's All-Tournament team.
Senior Grace Coleman put away the game-deciding goal with 5:52 left in the final frame of the conference championship game.
Regular Season Success
Over the course of the last nine seasons, Wagner secured an impressive 88-1 record against MAAC opponents in regular season matchups.
The Seahawks finished the season with a 7-4 mark against teams listed in the CWPA top-25.
Graduate Student Pip Nash was tabbed as the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Head Coach Josh Hower merited the conference's Coach of the Year honor by a unanimous vote.
Carlota Alonso led the Seahawks in goals, points, and steals this year.
Alonso completed her season with 113 goals while dishing out 39 assists with 58 steals.
Andrea Arias finished second on the Seahawks in total points.
Arias scored 101 goals on 169 shot attempts while drawing a team-high 88 drawn exclusions during this season.
Arias received the MAAC Tournament MVP nod after scoring seven goals over the weekend.
Fellow senior Mar Navarro is third on the roster in points, finishing her season with a team-high 79 assists. Navarro produced a six-assist performance against Marist on March 16.
On defense, Francesca Sena spent 1023 minutes across 32 starts, concluding her sophomore season with a record of 27-4.
Sena denied 249 shots, while tallying 46 steals, and 17 assists to her season totals, averaging 7.8 saves per game. Sena returned after earning MAAC 'Co-Rookie of the Year' during the 2023 campaign.
Nash has attained 28 goals, 28 assists, 35 steals, and a team-high 24 field blocks.
Junior Casey Taylor heads into the Opening Round with 19 goals, 18 assists, and 33 steals on the season.
Nash and Taylor are the captains for the Seahawks during their 2024 campaign.
Along with her 39 goals, Magali Ogg has recorded 53 assists across 69 shot attempts during her second year on Grymes Hill.
Grace Coleman scored 20 goals on an efficient 44 shots, while adding 19 assists and 20 steals.
Newcomers Making A Difference
Ana Arias was named the conference's Rookie of the Week four times throughout the year.
Arias finished the season with 33 goals which is good for fifth on the team.
Arias completed her first season with a shooting percentage of 67.3%.
Maylen Sampedro Tarela is currently tenth on the Seahawks in total points, accumulating 17 goals with 11 assists.
The Barcelona, Spain native recorded four multi-goal games this season.
Catherine Mentz connected on 10 shots during her first year on Grymes Hill.
In net, Jillian Hemming appeared in 12 games for the Green & White, spending 134 minutes and 59 seconds in goal.
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.
In both of her two wins, Hemming denied six shots and played for at least 22 minutes.
Wagner In The Tournament
The victory of Biola marks the fourth in the Seahawks' program history.
Wagner defeated UC San Diego in 2017 and 2018, before taking down Salem at the 2022 NCAA Championships by a score of 15-9.
The Green & White have a lifetime record of 3-7 in the tournament, competing in every Championship since 2014 outside of 2021 and 2023.
About #1 UCLA
This First Round matchup marks the seventh matchup between UCLA and Wagner.
Wagner is 0-6 all-time against UCLA, with a 14-7 loss suffered during the 2023 campaign.
UCLA is currently ranked as the #1 team in the country, according to the CWPA.
The Bruins are 23-0 overall this season, with a 13-0 record at neutral sites.
About The NCAA Championships
The 2024 National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship is currently being held at the University of California from Wednesday, May 8 to Sunday, May 12 at the Spieker Aquatics Complex.
Along with Wagner, UCLA, Stanford, USC, Hawaii, California, and Fresno State make up the rest of the field.
Biola was the first team eliminated in the Championships after suffering a 15-14 loss at the hands of the Seahawks on Wednesday, May 8.
The National Championship game will be aired on ESPNU on Sunday, May 12 at 10 pm est.
What's Next
The winner of the Wagner-UCLA game will take on the winner of the Stanford-USC matchup on Saturday, May 11 at the Spieker Aquatics Center. Ball-drop for that game is set for noon.
