CSUN Water Polo Faces Tough Tests at Triton Invitational

Saturday, February 11

La Jolla, CA

12:30 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

#9 UC Santa Barbara

Photo by: Tony Mastres

CSUN Water Polo Faces Tough Tests at Triton Invitational

2/10/2017 10:47:00 AM | Women's Water Polo

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

The No. 22 ranked CSUN Water Polo (4-6) team returns to the pool to compete four times at UC San Diego's Triton Invitational beginning Saturday. The Matadors will open up their stay at the invitational against Big West rival and No. 9 ranked UC Santa Barbara at 12:30 p.m. at Canyonview Pool. At the invitational, a total of 16 teams will compete in the two-day tournament as 13 of the teams come in nationally ranked. Along with UCSB, 11 teams are ranked in the Top 20 nationally and six head into the weekend in the Top 10.

The winner of the Matadors and Gauchos will take on the winner of No. 6 Michigan and No. 23 Marist at 5:50 p.m on Saturday evening. The losers of the two matches will play each other at 4:30 p.m. CSUN's first opponent on Sunday will be determined after its second game on Saturday.

Junior attacker Katelyn Fairchild continued her outstanding start to the season with seven more goals last Friday in CSUN's two wins at Cal Lutheran. Fairchild scored three goals while junior Amy Yule scored a season-high four in a 13-5 victory over the host Regals. Later in the day, Fairchild scored four more goals and Madeleine Sanchez added three in a 14-9 win over Cal State Monterey Bay. Sanchez scored five goals in the two matches and registered 10 steals. CSUN never trailed in either of the two matches as the Matadors extended their winning streak to three.

On the season, Fairchild has already netted 23 goals on 41.1 percent shooting to go along with 19 steals and eight assists. A season ago, Fairchild scored a career-high 28 goals in 29 matches.

Sanchez has picked up 16 goals on the season and a team-best 35 steals in seven matches. Third on the team in scoring, Yule has scored eight times after her netting five goals last Friday. Leading the team in assists, Shannon Hovanesian has racked up 14 helpers this season to go along with seven goals.

Led senior defenders Alexis Elias and Emily Fuller, CSUN's defense has held opponents to under seven goals per game over the last three games. In net, junior Niki Van Vugt has collected 69 saves including 15 over the last three matches. Van Vugt has averaged 9.05 saves per game in 244 minutes in the cage.

In the all-time head-to-head series, the Matadors lead the Gauchos, 16-14, overall but UCSB picked up wins in both meetings last season. In addition to a 6-4 win during the regular season, the Gauchos eliminated CSUN in the opening round of the Big West Conference Tournament last season with an 8-4 victory. Sanchez scored a team-best three goals in the two meetings with the Gauchos last season.

A season removed from winning the Big West Conference crown and finishing seventh at the NCAA Tournament, the Gauchos have gone 5-3 on the season. After going 4-2 at its Winter Invitational, UCSB split a pair of matches at the Arizona State Invitational on January 29. The Gauchos defeated Wagner, 11-10, but fell to host ASU at the invitational in Tempe, AZ. Freshman Sarah Snyder has recorded a team-best 14 goals while senior Taylor Shore has hit the net 13 times and picked up 25 steals. At goalkeeper, freshman Kenzi Synder has collected 56 saves and allowed 61 goals through seven matches this season.