CSUN Water Polo Wraps up Home Schedule with Hawai'i and UC Davis

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

No. 25 CSUN Water Polo (10-16, 0-2 BWC) concludes its home schedule this weekend with two Big West Conference showdowns against a pair of Top 10 teams. The Matadors face No. 4 Hawai'i on Saturday and CSUN meets No. 9 UC Davis on Senior Day on Sunday afternoon. Both matches will kick off at 12 p.m. Prior to Sunday's match with the Aggies, the Matadors will honor their three seniors in a special pre-game ceremony.

The Matadors dropped two of three matches last week including their first two conference contests. Last Tuesday, CSUN defeated Brown, 10-6, at Matador Pool but fell in road matches at No. 6 UC Irvine, 12-6, and at No. 16 Long Beach State, 10-4. Leading scorer Madeleine Sanchez scored four goals twice during the week while Amy Yule tallied goals in every match. Goalkeeper Niki Van Vugt amassed 15 saves in the three matches including eight against the sixth-ranked Anteaters.

Sunday's Senior Day marks the last games for attackers Taitum Herrington and Taryn Kamimoto, and goalkeeper Natalie Averell at Matador Pool. A stalwart in the Matador lineup over her career with CSUN, Herrington has competed in over 100 matches in her career while she has amassed 34 goals, 62 steals and 53 assists. Named one of four team captains prior to the start of the season, Herrington has recorded six goals through 19 games in 2016 while totaling 14 steals, eights assists and seven field blocks. Another mainstay over the last four years, Averell has accumulated over 571 minutes in front of the cage since 2013. By posting a career-high 42 saves this season, Averell pushed her career total to 120 and into eighth place all-time in CSUN history. The Matadors' third senior and team captain, Kamimoto notched her first goal of the season against Redlands in March. She has totaled four goals in her CSUN career while she has compiled 10 assists and four steals.

CSUN's top offensive threat, Sanchez enters her final home matches of the season sitting at 62 goals on the year to go along with 48 steals and 38 assists. She has scored in eight of the last nine matches including tallying two or more goals in seven of those games. Scoring in 15 of the last 18 matches, Yule continues to be a threat at the center position for CSUN. Yule is second in the team in goals with 39 on an impressive 49.4 percent shooting.

The Matadors are 4-11 all-time against the Rainbow Wahine after the teams split their two meetings last season. CSUN posted a 7-6 win at Hawai'i during the regular season in 2015 but the Rainbow Wahine knocked out the Matadors in the semifinals of the Big West Conference Tournament with a 6-5 decision. Against UC Davis, CSUN is 6-13 in the all-time head-to-head series. The Aggies defeated CSUN, 10-5, at the Triton Invitiational earlier this season in February.

Following the Matadors' weekend contests, CSUN concludes its conference schedule with a road match at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, April 16 followed by its regular season finale at Loyola Marymount on April 23.

The fourth-ranked Rainbow Wahine are 17-5 and 2-0 in Big West play this season. Hawai'i has won four-straight after defeating UC Davis at home, 10-9, in double overtime last Saturday. Last season, Hawai'i earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big West Conference Tournament, knocking off UC Irvine in the finals. As a team, Hawai'i has posted 222 goals, led by freshmen Irene Gonzalez and Femke Aan who have 61 and 51 goals respectively. Sophomore Ymane Hage has tallied 98 saves in 436 minutes of play in front of the cage.

UC Davis is 14-10 and 0-2 in the conference action in 2016. The Aggies have dropped two in a row after falling to Hawai'i in a 10-9 sudden death decision. Before facing CSUN, the Aggies travel to UC Santa Barbara for a Saturday afternoon conference test. UC Davis leads the Big West Conference with 227 goals followed by CSUN at 222. Senior Allyson Hansen leads UC Davis with 42 goals through 23 matches while totaling 15 steals and 13 assists. Three other Aggies have scored 30 or more goals including juniors Bryn Lutz (34), Carla Tocchini (34) and Hannah Harvey (33). Both senior Haley Cameron and junior Olivia Husted have amassed over 100 saves on the season in over 300 minutes apiece.

CSUN Water Polo Wraps up Home Schedule with Hawai'i and UC Davis

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Players Mentioned

Natalie Averell

Taitum Herrington

Taryn Kamimoto

Madeleine Sanchez

Niki Van Vugt

Amy Yule