It will be a very busy 2016 at Campus Pool, as the UCSB women’s water polo team is set to host six matches, the Winter Invitational, and the Big West Championship Tournament, it was announced Friday.
The Gauchos will open the new season with their annual Winter Invitational, with 10 of the 14 participating teams ending the 2015 season ranked among the nation’s top-20. Topping the competitive field will be last season’s national runner-up UCLA, while fellow top-10 finishers Cal and San Jose State will compete as well. Though UCSB will not play them that weekend, the Big West will be well represented with Hawai’i, UC Irvine, and CSUN joining the Gauchos.
After a busy first weekend, UCSB will then hit the road to Michigan and UC Irvine for back-to-back tournaments and will wrap up their road swing at Claremont.
The Gauchos will then return home to host six of their following seven matches, as they will open the stretch with three consecutive home bouts against Harvard (3/19), Santa Clara (3/20), and nationally ranked Stanford (3/22).
After a trip to UC Irvine for their conference opener, the Gauchos will return to Campus Pool on Apr. 9th to open a three-match home stand starting with UC Davis. They will close out their home schedule with Hawaii and CSUN, while a visit to Long Beach State will officially close out the conference schedule.
After the regular season comes to a close, UCSB will host for the 2016 Big West Championship Tournament from April 29-May 1.
The Gauchos are returning All-American utility Samantha Murphy who will be competing in her final season as a Gaucho. Murphy registered 34 goals and eight assists, as she led the team with 42 points. Fellow senior Bryn Hudson is also coming off an All-Big West 2015 season where she netted 16 goals along with 10 assists. UCSB also returns its leading scorer from last year in Camila Schafer who netted 36 scores. After redshirting last season, Lauren Martin will return for her senior campaign at two-meter.
