Matadors Face Nationally Ranked Opponents at UCI Invitational

FULL UCI INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

No. 25 CSUN Water Polo returns to the pool this weekend for a two-day stay at the UC Irvine Invitational. The Matadors will compete in a 16-team tournament and will face four teams over the two-day period. Up first for CSUN, a rematch with the No. 1 USC Trojans at Anteater Aquatics Complex at 8 a.m. Later in the afternoon, the Matadors will face either No. 7 Arizona State or No. 9 UC Irvine. The winner of the CSUN and USC contest will compete against the winner of ASU and UCI at 1:30 p.m. while the losers of both matches will meet at 2:45 p.m. The Matadors' Sunday opponents will be determined after Saturday's matches.

In their last contest, CSUN fell to the top-ranked Trojans last Saturday, 15-3. The Matadors trailed 2-1 in the early going but USC used an 11-0 run over the next two periods to take control of the contest. Sophomores Amy Yule and Katelyn Fairchild, and junior Emily Fuller each hit the net while sophomore Niki Van Vugt posted nine saves.

Sophomore attacker Madeleine Sanchez continues to lead the Matadors in goals. She has found the netting 29 times this season including scoring in the first 10 matches of the season. In addition to sporting an impressive 53.7 shooting percentage, she is also third on the team in steals (16) and assists (10). After notching a tally at USC, Yule moved her season total to 16 on the season while she is shooting a steady 48.5 percent in the pool. Defensive stalwart, sophomore Katelyn Fairchild leads the team with 26 steals heading into the weekend and she shares the team-lead with 15 assists with fellow sophomore Shannon Hovanesian.

All 16 teams head into the tournament with a national ranking and CSUN will face two Top 10 teams on Saturday. CSUN finished eighth at the tournament last season after going 1-3. The Matadors met both UC Irvine and Arizona State at the invitational in 2015 as CSUN fell 8-3 to the host Anteaters and dropped a 9-7 decision to the Sun Devils.

The Matadors seek their first ever victory against the Trojans and will look to snap a 12-game losing string. CSUN is 4-17 all-time versus Arizona State including dropping three matches last season. Against UCI, the Matadors are 3-24 and suffered two losses last season to the Anteaters.

USC moved its undefeated record to 7-0 last weekend and the Trojans are 4-0 in neutral site contests on the season. Junior Stephania Haralabidis continues to lead the team in goals with 19 after scoring four last week. The junior tandem of Avery Peterson and Ioanna Haralabidis has scored 14 goals apiece for USC on the season. After posting 13 saves against the Matadors, Amanda Longan leads the team with 29 saves and she is allowing 3.7 goals per game.

ASU is 4-2 this season and the Sun Devils went 2-2 at the Triton Invitational. Senior attacker Daisy Carter leads the team with 11 goals on the season. The Anteaters have posted a 6-5 record in 2016 and UCI last played at home against UCLA in an 11-6 loss last Friday. Sophomore Mary Brooks leads the Anteaters with 19 goals through 11 matches.

Matadors Face Nationally Ranked Opponents at UCI Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Katelyn Fairchild

Emily Fuller

Shannon Hovanesian

Madeleine Sanchez

Niki Van Vugt

Amy Yule