Coaches rank UCSB 7th in water polo poll

UCSB is ranked seventh in the country in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Coaches Preseason Poll.The Gauchos, who return All-Americans Milos Golic and Zsombor Vincze,  were picked to finish sixth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.MPSF powers Cal, UCLA, Stanford, USC and Irvine were ranked first through fifth in the national and MPSF polls. Loyola Marymount is sixth.UCSB earned 71 points in the national poll, trailing LMU by three points and coming in three points ahead of … [Read more...]

DP’s Little resigns due to expecting first child

Danelle Little has won CIF Division I Coach of the Year honors for the past two seasons.

Danelle Little's family has been at the pool for the past nine years."The girls and the program have been my baby for a long time," said the coach of the 3-time defending CIF Champion Dos Pueblos girls water polo squad. But this time she's having a baby for real, as Little announced her resignation earlier this week. She and her husband are expecting their first child in early March, just a week after the CIF Finals take place."It's very exciting for my husband and I, but it's tough … [Read more...]

SBWPC’s U16 girls take home JO title

Kodi Hill was named MVP of the U16 Girls Division.

The Santa Barbara Water Polo Club was a force to be reckoned with at the 2010 S&R Sport USA Junior Olympics in Los Angeles last week. The club hauled in a number of superb results, including a gold medal for the 16-and-under girls team.SBWPC's 16u girls "A" team, coached by Mark Walsh, went undefeated in the tournament over seven matches, culminated by a 7-5 victory in the championship match over San Diego Shores. Kodi Hill, a soon-to-be junior at Dos Pueblos High, was named the division's … [Read more...]

Dons take 5th at state tournament

Santa Barbara’s girls took fifth place at the recent High School State Invitational Water Polo Tournament in Orange County.The Dons beat Foothill and Laguna Beach in the fifth-place bracket. They defeated Torrey Pines, Fountain Valley and Murietta Valley in bracket play and were knocked off by eventual tournament runner-up Corona del Mar in the quarterfinals.Coach Mark Walsh cited the play of Makenzy Fowler and Kelsey O’Brien.In the boys state invitational, Santa Barbara placed 12th. … [Read more...]

Craig’s play provides boost for U.S. in semifinals

Kami Craig dominated the 2-meter area early and scored a man-advantage goal with less than two minutes remaining in the first period, sparking a 5-1 run that helped the United States women’s water polo team defeat Greece 9-7 in the semifinals of the  FINA World League Super Final in La Jolla.Craig is a former Santa Barbara High star.The Americans will play Australia for the championship Saturday. Australia edged Russia 8-7 in the other semifinal game.Craig stepped up when she was called … [Read more...]

Craig’s scoring gets U.S. off to good start

Former Santa Barbara High star Kami Craig scored a game-tying goal with 10 seconds left, and the United States women's water polo team prevailed in a shootout to beat Australia 15-14 in a preliminary game at the FINA World League Super Final on Tuesday in La Jolla.Lauren Wenger entered the ball to Craig, who finished a step-out shot with 10 seconds remaining to send the game into the shootout. Craig finished with two goals for the  Americans, who are 2-0 in pool play.She three goals in an … [Read more...]

UCSB hangs tough with Montenegro but falls 19-6

MonteTab

The bleachers were full at UCSB's Campus Pool on Monday night as UCSB's men's water polo team faced off against defending European champion Montenegro, the ninth-ranked team in the world. For about a third of the match things were even before Montenegro overpowered the Gauchos to post a 19-6 victory."They wore us down, but I felt happy that we gave them a good game in the first half. We knew we weren't gonna win this game, but we just wanted to stay with them," said UCSB coach Wolf Wigo, who … [Read more...]

Water polo power Montenegro to play at UCSB

In the water polo world, the small European country of Montenegro is considered one of the big teams in the sport.Local water polo fans will get a rare opportunity to see the Montenegro national squad play as it visits UCSB on Monday for an exhibition game against the Gauchos.The event is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Campus Pool. There is no admission charge but donations will be accepted to help offset the cost of hosting the Montenegro team.Montenegro is currently on a training trip through … [Read more...]

UCSB’s Rouleau All-Conference for 2nd straight year

UCSB's Lizzie Rouleau

Senior center Lizzie Rouleau earned her second consecutive First Team All-Big West honor it was announced on Wednesday morning by the conference. Additionally, junior utility Christie Clark was named to the All-Big West Second Team and freshman goalkeeper Ruth Milne was awarded with Honorable Mention All-Big West accolades.Rouleau and Clark led the Gauchos with 37 goals apiece during the 2010 season and were tied for 11th in the Big West with their average of 1.23 goals per game.Rouleau … [Read more...]

Gauchos settle for fourth in Big West tourney

UCSB (18-12, 3-2) was defeated by top-seeded Pacific (23-10, 4-1), 7-5, on Sunday in the third place match of the 2010 Big West Women's Water Polo Tournament on Sunday. Despite entering the conference tournament on Friday as the third seed, UCSB ends the season as fourth in the Big West after going 1-2 in Long Beach over the weekend.The third place match-up started out as a barn burner, with four goals being scored in the first 3:10 of play. UCSB started the action, going up 1-0 on a Shelby … [Read more...]