#24 CSUN Wraps Up Regular Season at #14 UC Davis

Saturday, April 13

Davis, Calif.

12:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

#14 UC Davis

Photo by: Connor Clark

#24 CSUN Wraps Up Regular Season at #14 UC Davis

4/11/2024 1:17:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---No. 24 CSUN Water Polo wraps up the regular season with a Big West road matchup with No. 14 UC Davis on Saturday at noon. Live stats will be provided for the match.

BIG PICTURE
CSUN looks to move up the conference standings ahead of the 2024 Big West Water Polo Championships, which begins Friday, April 26 in Davis, Calif. The Matadors currently hold on to seventh seed in the conference standings. The team can finish as high as the fifth seed or as low as the eighth seed for the conference tournament while a win over UC Davis would earn CSUN a tiebreaker with the Aggies and UC Santa Barbara by virtue of victories in head-to-head matches.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
CSUN notched its first Big West win of the season with a come-from-behind 9-8 win over 15th-ranked UC Santa Barbara on Senior Day last Friday. The victory was CSUN's first over the Gauchos since the 2017 season. The Matadors trailed by a 7-4 margin in the third period and by two goals to start the fourth period. Anna Pal led the comeback charge with three goals over the final two minutes of action including the game winner with 19 seconds remaining. Meghan Lopez finished with 14 saves in the match, holding the Gauchos to just one goal in the final period.

The Matadors would take on Cal State Fullerton on the road this past Saturday, falling in a defensive struggle 5-4. CSUN shot just 4-for-31 in the contest and could not take advantage of five Fullerton exclusions in the match. The Matadors held a slim 3-2 lead near the end of the third period, but the Titans scored three unanswered goals and held on in the closing seconds. Dorottya Telek led the way with two goals in the contest.

MATADOR LEADERS
Dorottya Telek tops The Big West with 87 goals while Anna Pal is ranked third in the conference with 60 goals and Helena Sandhagen is eighth with 43 tallies. On the assists list, Pal remains the conference leader with 58 helpers followed by Shelby Hovanesian in third place with 43 assists and Tatum Scarry in ninth place with 28 assists. CSUN has three in the top-five in The Big West in points as Pal is second with 118, Telek is third with 115 and Hovanesian is fourth with 75. In front of the cage, Meghan Lopez's 202 saves are good enough for second best in the conference.

ABOUT UC DAVIS
The 14th-ranked Aggies are 8-16 overall on the season with a 0-4 mark in Big West action. The team is coming off back-to-back losses last week on the road at Long Beach State (14-7) and UC Irvine (11-9). On the year, UC Davis has dropped five of seven home contests, all of which to top 20 teams. Gianna Nocetti tops the team with 28 goals this season followed closely by Grace Pelkey with 27 tallies. In goal, Nellie McAdams ranks fourth in The Big West with 176 saves on the season to go with an 11.24 goals-against-average.

Series History: The Aggies lead the Matadors 24-7 in the all-time series. CSUN looks to snap a 10-game skid in the series and post its first victory over the Aggies since 2016. Last season, the Aggies prevailed twice by 15-6 and 11-7 scores.

#GoMatadors