SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The No. 20 UC San Diego women's water polo team increased its Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) record to 9-1 this season with two wins over Colorado State and Cal State San Bernardino on Sunday at The Bronco in Sullivan Aquatic Center. The Tritons beat the Rams in the morning edition, 10-6, before taking down the Coyotes, 11-6.
With no conference matches remaining UCSD (14-16) will finish with the second-highest win percentage in the conference behind No. 8 Loyola Marymount. LMU swept four WWPA matches at The Bronco to improve to 11-0 in conference play in 2011. The Lions and Tritons will likely be the top two seeds for the WWPA Championships, scheduled to begin on Friday, April 29 at Cal State East Bay.
Sarah Lizotte scored 12 goals, added eight assists, six steals and five ejections over the four matches at The Bronco, scoring a hat-trick in each of the contests. She scored three in Saturday's games with No. 7 San Jose State and Santa Clara and then repeated the recipe against CSU and CSUSB, respectively.
UCSD trailed CSU 4-2 at halftime of the opening game, but the Tritons would hold the Rams scoreless in the third period while scoring four of their own to take a 6-4 lead heading into the final quarter. UCSD allowed CSU to crawl within three in the fourth, but UCSD's four goals in the last frame proved to be too much for the Rams.
Jessica Tran also tallied two goals in the opener with CSU, co-leading a group of eight Triton goal-scorers. Hanalei Crowell matched Lizotte's three goals in the closing affair with CSUSB, as the Tritons improved their all-time record to 16-0 over the Coyotes.
UCSD went 1-1 on the opening day of the tournament with a 12-5 loss to SJSU and a 9-8 sudden-death victory over WWPA-foe Santa Clara.
UCSD is searching for its first WWPA title after finishing second to LMU in 2010. The Lions and Tritons, who were also last year's No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, will look to reunite in this year's championship after LMU outlasted UCSD in the 2010 edition, 13-10, for its second consecutive WWPA title.
The Tritons will finish their home season next Saturday at noon against No. 6 University of Michigan at Canyonview Pool. Prior to the match, Triton seniors Crowell, Felicia Orozco and Stephanie Sasaki will be honored for their years of service to the UCSD women's water polo program.
