Tritons, Pioneers Advance to Sunday's WWPA Title Game

2014 WWPA Women's Championship Tournament Central

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- It will be top-seed UC San Diego and No. 3-seed Cal State East Bay to vie for the 2014 Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Women's Championship banner and the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament following Saturday's semifinal action at Canyonview Aquatics Center in La Jolla. The 14th-ranked Tritons defeated Sonoma State, 14-5, and the Pioneers edged Cal State Monterey Bay, 5-4, to reach Sunday's championship game, which is scheduled for 1:00 pm. The Seawolves and Otters will play for third place at 11:00 am, also on Sunday.

Sonoma State 8, Cal State San Bernardino 6 -- Box Score

(Written by Tyler Lobe, Sonoma State Sports Information)

Noelle Herrera had another big game against Cal State San Bernardino, caging a season-high four goals to lift the Sonoma State women's water polo team to an 8-6 win on day two of the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Women's Championships in La Jolla, which sets up a semifinal contest between the Seawolves (8-21) and top-seeded UC San Diego later this afternoon at 3:00 pm. The Coyotes see their season come to an end at 3-24.

Herrera, who was named to the WWPA All-Conference First Team earlier this week, has scored nine of her team-high 44 goals against Cal State San Bernardino this season and her four-goal output on Saturday was the third time this season that the sophomore scored four in one game.

Though the Coyotes entered the WWPA tournament with just three wins all season and with the program facing extinction, they weren't going to go down without a fight and they showed just that on Friday in a two-goal loss to No.2-seed Cal State Monterey Bay. Tied at 1-1, the Seawolves scored three unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead. The two teams then traded goals until the score became 6-3 in favor of SSU with 7:25 left in the third quarter.

CSUSB began to claw back with consecutive goals to come within one at 6-5, but Herrera's goal at the 3:15 mark of the third period to put Sonoma up 7-5 would prove to be crucial, then Tessa deRecat caged an insurance goal two minutes later for the 8-5 lead in favor of the Seawolves. Cal State San Bernardino's Mary Jane Cooney threw in a quick goal 20 seconds after deRecat's score, but from then on, it became a defensive battle and both teams were held scoreless for the final 9:22, resulting in the 8-6 win for Sonoma State.

Herrera's four goals and deRecat's two led the way for SSU on Saturday morning. Alexa May and Caitlin Risden also scored in the victory. Andrea Mallul got the start in the cage and made eight saves.

Despite suffering the nailbiting loss on Friday to Cal State East Bay, Sonoma State still has the opportunity to play for the WWPA title and the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament in two weeks. To do so, the Seawolves will need to defeat 14th-ranked UC San Diego at 3:00 pm, then knock off Cal State East Bay in Sunday's championship game.

Semifinal #1: Cal State East Bay 5, Cal State Monterey Bay 4 -- Box Score

(Written by Scott Chisholm, Cal State East Bay Sports Information)

Cal State East Bay will move on to the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) championship game following a 5-4 win over rival Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday. The Pioneers will make their first ever WWPA Tournament final appearance, doing so against No. 13 nationally ranked and tournament host UC San Diego on Sunday, April 27, at 1 p.m. inside the Canyonview Aquatic Center.

"Our defense really stepped up and played extremely smart. Marrina Nation had a great game with all nine of her saves being game changers," praised Cal State East Bay Head Coach Lisa Cooper.

The Pioneers never trailed or led by more than a single goal over the entire 32 minutes. Breanna Ritter, Jennifer Lightbody, Olivia Mackell, Taylor Cross, and Allison Zell each scored once to regain the lead after Cal State Monterey Bay (10-18) tied the game on four separate occasions. Zell scored the game-winner with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter as the Pioneers held on for the victory.

CSUMB's Cami Kellogg led all players scoring the first two of her team's four goals. Jessica Laurence and Ashton Palmer scored in the third and fourth quarters respectively. Goalkeeper Amanda Jennings was credited with 12 saves in the loss.

All three meetings this year were decided by a single goal with CSUEB earning victories in the final two matchups to take the season series. The Pioneers will enter Sunday's match on a 4-game win streak with a pair of victories over WWPA squads Sonoma State and CSU Monterey Bay.

"It is so exciting to make our first WWPA Championship game. We truly earned the opportunity to play for the first WWPA title in program history," said Cooper.

Cal State East Bay (17-13) will take on UC San Diego (25-10) in hopes of snapping the Tritons' current 8-game win streak. UCSD defeated Sonoma State 14-5 in the other semifinal to close out Saturday's schedule.

Semifinal #2: UC San Diego 14, Sonoma State 5 -- Box Score

(Written by Matt Mazzoni, UC San Diego Sports Information)

No. 13 UC San Diego's quest for a second consecutive appearance at the National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship began Saturday at Canyonview Aquatic Center with a 14-5 win over Sonoma State in the semifinals of the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Championships.

The Tritons (25-10) move into the WWPA championship match tomorrow at 1 p.m. against Cal State East Bay (17-13), who defeated Cal State Monterey Bay, 5-4, in the earlier semifinal. UCSD has now made the championship game in five-straight seasons.

The Seawolves (8-22) will play in the third-place game at 11 a.m. against CSUMB.

The Tritons led from start-to-finish and was powered by All-WWPA Second Team selection Jolene Guiliana, who found the back of the cage four times in the win. UCSD also received a hat trick from the WWPA Player of the Year, Sarah Lizotte.

UCSD scored the first two goals of the game and eventually led 3-1 at the end of the first period. Leah Gonzales set up Melissa Bartow at the five-meter line to open the scoring, before Lizotte dished out a pair of assists to Guiliana on well-timed back cuts to free her up for two straight goals.

Lizotte jumped into the scoring mix in the second and opened the period with a score, before a Bartow backhand found the back of the cage to put UCSD up 5-2. The Tritons closed out the period with three straight goals to lead 8-2 at the intermission.

After SSU opened the second half with a score, the Tritons responded less than a minute later with another Guiliana goal, set up by Gonzales.

UCSD continued to wear down the Seawolves, who were playing their third game of the championships, in the second half and put the game away. The Tritons scored a total of six goals the final two periods to make the final 14-5.

Courtney Miller finished with seven saves in the cage to power the Triton defense.

UCSD has now won eight straight games and has scored in double-digits in seven of those eight contests.

The championship match is slated to begin at 1 p.m. at Canyonview Aquatic Center. UCSD downed CSUEB, 10-3, earlier in the year on April 6.