Sunday, March 26
Whittier, Calif.
9:00 a.m.
California State University at Northridge
at
Whittier College
Photo by: Connor Clark
#22 CSUN To Face Whittier and #21 Brown on Sunday
3/24/2023 12:05:00 PM | Women's Water Polo
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---No. 22 CSUN Water Polo (15-8) returns to action on Sunday afternoon for a pair of matches at the Whittier Invitational. The Matadors open the day taking on Whittier College at 9 a.m. before squaring off with No. 21 Brown at noon.
LAST TIME OUT
The Matadors are coming off a one-match week where CSUN would drop a Big West road contest to seventh-ranked Long Beach State, 15-7. The Beach held a slim 4-3 lead after eight minutes but would take control of the contest by outscoring the Matadors 9-2 over the next two quarters to pull away.
Tatiana Smeltzer and Shelby Hovanesian scored two goals apiece to lead the team while three other Matadors hit the net. Meghan Lopez registered seven saves in front of the cage.
MATADOR HEADLINES
The Matadors are taking a week off from conference competition to take on Whittier and nationally-ranked Brown this weekend. CSUN resumes Big West play next Saturday, April 7 when the Matadors visit UC Santa Barbara. The final four matches of the regular season will be against conference teams.
Dorottya Telek enters the week with a Big West-leading 84 goals and 93 points while Anna Pal is ranks second in the league in assists with 31. Shelby Hovanesian has the second-most goals on the team with 29 followed by Pal with 23 tallies. Telek tops the Matadors with 30 steals to go with eight field blocks. In front of the cage, Meghan Lopez has racked up a conference-leading 201 saves.
Telek, who already broke the school's single-season goal record this year, is ninth on CSUN's all-time career goal list with 161. Telek needs a goal to catch Jessica Coy (2005-09) for eighth place on the list.
Lopez has also moved up the school's career saves list this year with the Matador goalkeeper now fifth all-time in saves with 519. Ahead of Lopez in fourth place is Niki Van Vugt (2015-18) with 608 career saves.
SERIES HISTORY
CSUN leads Whittier 6-1 in the all-time series with wins over the last two meetings. The teams squared off at least season's Whittier Invitational with the Matadors coming out on top 8-7 on a last-second goal from Meghan Lopez.
The Matadors have won two of three all-time meetings with Brown University. The Bears though won last season's meeting at the Whittier Invitational in overtime by a 13-11 margin.
A CLOSER LOOK AT WHITTIER
The Poets are 3-11 on the season after dropping two-straight matches. Whittier has gone 1-4 at home on the year with its lone win coming against Chapman on March 11. In 2022, Whittier went 17-12 on the year, finishing as runners up the SCIAC Championship. A first-team All-American a year ago, Ally Burke was named SCIAC Player of the Week earlier this month. Burke had 41 goals scored in 2022.
A CLOSER LOOK AT BROWN
The 21st-ranked Bears are 14-4 on the season with all four of their losses coming to top-20 teams. Last competing on March 5, Brown split two games on that day to the likes of Redlands (10-6 win) and Wagner (12-5 loss). In 2022, Brown finished with a 25-15 overall record. Zoe King paces the team with 27 goals while Claire Pisani has 22 goals of her own. In front of the cage, Shauna Franke has totaled 91 saves.
#GoMatadors
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LAST TIME OUT
The Matadors are coming off a one-match week where CSUN would drop a Big West road contest to seventh-ranked Long Beach State, 15-7. The Beach held a slim 4-3 lead after eight minutes but would take control of the contest by outscoring the Matadors 9-2 over the next two quarters to pull away.
Tatiana Smeltzer and Shelby Hovanesian scored two goals apiece to lead the team while three other Matadors hit the net. Meghan Lopez registered seven saves in front of the cage.
MATADOR HEADLINES
The Matadors are taking a week off from conference competition to take on Whittier and nationally-ranked Brown this weekend. CSUN resumes Big West play next Saturday, April 7 when the Matadors visit UC Santa Barbara. The final four matches of the regular season will be against conference teams.
Dorottya Telek enters the week with a Big West-leading 84 goals and 93 points while Anna Pal is ranks second in the league in assists with 31. Shelby Hovanesian has the second-most goals on the team with 29 followed by Pal with 23 tallies. Telek tops the Matadors with 30 steals to go with eight field blocks. In front of the cage, Meghan Lopez has racked up a conference-leading 201 saves.
Telek, who already broke the school's single-season goal record this year, is ninth on CSUN's all-time career goal list with 161. Telek needs a goal to catch Jessica Coy (2005-09) for eighth place on the list.
Lopez has also moved up the school's career saves list this year with the Matador goalkeeper now fifth all-time in saves with 519. Ahead of Lopez in fourth place is Niki Van Vugt (2015-18) with 608 career saves.
SERIES HISTORY
CSUN leads Whittier 6-1 in the all-time series with wins over the last two meetings. The teams squared off at least season's Whittier Invitational with the Matadors coming out on top 8-7 on a last-second goal from Meghan Lopez.
The Matadors have won two of three all-time meetings with Brown University. The Bears though won last season's meeting at the Whittier Invitational in overtime by a 13-11 margin.
A CLOSER LOOK AT WHITTIER
The Poets are 3-11 on the season after dropping two-straight matches. Whittier has gone 1-4 at home on the year with its lone win coming against Chapman on March 11. In 2022, Whittier went 17-12 on the year, finishing as runners up the SCIAC Championship. A first-team All-American a year ago, Ally Burke was named SCIAC Player of the Week earlier this month. Burke had 41 goals scored in 2022.
A CLOSER LOOK AT BROWN
The 21st-ranked Bears are 14-4 on the season with all four of their losses coming to top-20 teams. Last competing on March 5, Brown split two games on that day to the likes of Redlands (10-6 win) and Wagner (12-5 loss). In 2022, Brown finished with a 25-15 overall record. Zoe King paces the team with 27 goals while Claire Pisani has 22 goals of her own. In front of the cage, Shauna Franke has totaled 91 saves.
#GoMatadors
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Players Mentioned
Attacker
/ Women's Water Polo
Goalkeeper
/ Women's Water Polo
Attacker
/ Women's Water Polo
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