Saturday, April 12
Santa Barbara, Calif.
12:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
at
#19 UC Santa Barbara
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
#22 CSUN Concludes Regular Season at #19 UC Santa Barbara
4/11/2025 1:10:00 PM | Women's Water Polo
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---No. 22 CSUN Water Polo wraps up the regular season on Saturday with a road matchup with No. 19 UC Santa Barbara at noon on ESPN+. The game will be held at Santa Barbara High School.Â
FOR STARTERS
The Matadors (16-11, 1-5 Big West) enter their final regular season match in seventh place in the Big West standings. With the 2025 Big West Water Polo Championship on the horizon, CSUN can finish as high sixth in the conference standings with a win on Saturday over UC Santa Barbara (1-4). Hawai'i (6-0) leads the Big West followed by Long Beach State (5-1), UC Irvine (4-1), UC San Diego (3-3) and UC Davis (2-3). Below CSUN, Cal State Fullerton is locked into the eighth spot (0-5). All eight teams will compete at the 2025 Big West Championship in Irvine from April 25-27.
LAST TIME OUT
CSUN wrapped up its home schedule last Saturday with a high-scoring 19-12 defeat at the hands of 12th-ranked UC San Diego. Senior Helena Sandhagen netted four goals to lead the offense while senior Dorottya Telek added three goals. After falling behind 3-0 early, CSUN pulled to within 6-4 after one period. The Matadors trailed 7-6 early in the third period, but UCSD took control with five consecutive goals. Despite scoring six goals in the second half, the Matadors could not make up the gap down the stretch.
SENIOR SALUTE
Prior to last Saturday's match, CSUN honored a nine-member senior competing for the final time at Matador Pool. The senior group included Nicole Bacoyanis, Jessica Matkovich, Kelsey Meyers, Kate Cornejo, Helena Sandhagen, Tatum Scarry, Valeria Martinez, Anna Pal and Dorottya Telek. All nine seniors have played their entire career with the Matadors with eight lettering four years while Sandhagen has lettered in five seasons. Three of the seniors (Telek, Pal and Sandhagen) have also earned multiple All-American awards in their career.
TOP MATADOR PERFORMERS
Five Matadors have reached 30 goals or more this season with three topping 40 goals. Dorottya Telek remains the Big West leader in goals with 98 while Anna Pal has 52 goals and Helena Sandhagen has 42. Also above the 30-goal plateau are Sofia Martinez (34) and Kianna Melvin (33). Pal tops CSUN in the assist department with a career-high 64 helpers and leads in the steals category with 48 while Telek has a team-high 18 field blocks. In front of the cage, Erika Staine has totaled 102 saves, good enough for sixth-best in the Big West.
ALL-TIME LEADERS
CSUN's Hungarian duo of Dorottya Telek and Anna Pal are set to wrap up their historic collegiate career this season. Both will leave CSUN as two of the most decorated Matador players in program history. Telek entered this season as the school's all-time career goal leader before eventually surpassing the 300-goal milestone this season and eventually reaching 370 total goals. With her 98 tallies this season, Telek is just four goals away from breaking her own single-season goal record (101 goals) she set two seasons ago. This season has seen more history with Pal breaking the school's all-time assist mark, reaching 206 total helpers. Pal has also entered the all-time top 10 goals list at CSUN, moving into sixth-place with 193 total goals. With seven more goals this season, Pal would own the distinction of being the only Matador in history to reach 200 goals and 200 assists for a career.
SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA
The 19th-ranked Gauchos are 15-11 overall and 1-4 in Big West play. After dropping their first four Big West matches, the Gauchos notched their first conference win last Saturday at Cal State Fullerton by an 11-8 score. Annie Kuester leads the Gauchos with 53 goals and 71 points while Bella Mady has 42 goals and Imani Clemons has 41 goals. Juju Amaral has been the top distributor on the team with 46 assists to go with 69 points. Goalie Ava Donleavy has racked up 174 saves with a 9.37 goals-against-average.
Series History: UCSB leads CSUN 23-19 in the all-time series. After seven consecutive wins in the series for UCSB, CSUN took last season's meeting with a come-from-behind 9-8 victory, highlighted by a late game-winning tally from Anna Pal. Two seasons ago, the teams played in another thriller with UCSB pulling out a 13-12 sudden victory win.
#GoMatadorsÂ
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FOR STARTERS
The Matadors (16-11, 1-5 Big West) enter their final regular season match in seventh place in the Big West standings. With the 2025 Big West Water Polo Championship on the horizon, CSUN can finish as high sixth in the conference standings with a win on Saturday over UC Santa Barbara (1-4). Hawai'i (6-0) leads the Big West followed by Long Beach State (5-1), UC Irvine (4-1), UC San Diego (3-3) and UC Davis (2-3). Below CSUN, Cal State Fullerton is locked into the eighth spot (0-5). All eight teams will compete at the 2025 Big West Championship in Irvine from April 25-27.
LAST TIME OUT
CSUN wrapped up its home schedule last Saturday with a high-scoring 19-12 defeat at the hands of 12th-ranked UC San Diego. Senior Helena Sandhagen netted four goals to lead the offense while senior Dorottya Telek added three goals. After falling behind 3-0 early, CSUN pulled to within 6-4 after one period. The Matadors trailed 7-6 early in the third period, but UCSD took control with five consecutive goals. Despite scoring six goals in the second half, the Matadors could not make up the gap down the stretch.
SENIOR SALUTE
Prior to last Saturday's match, CSUN honored a nine-member senior competing for the final time at Matador Pool. The senior group included Nicole Bacoyanis, Jessica Matkovich, Kelsey Meyers, Kate Cornejo, Helena Sandhagen, Tatum Scarry, Valeria Martinez, Anna Pal and Dorottya Telek. All nine seniors have played their entire career with the Matadors with eight lettering four years while Sandhagen has lettered in five seasons. Three of the seniors (Telek, Pal and Sandhagen) have also earned multiple All-American awards in their career.
TOP MATADOR PERFORMERS
Five Matadors have reached 30 goals or more this season with three topping 40 goals. Dorottya Telek remains the Big West leader in goals with 98 while Anna Pal has 52 goals and Helena Sandhagen has 42. Also above the 30-goal plateau are Sofia Martinez (34) and Kianna Melvin (33). Pal tops CSUN in the assist department with a career-high 64 helpers and leads in the steals category with 48 while Telek has a team-high 18 field blocks. In front of the cage, Erika Staine has totaled 102 saves, good enough for sixth-best in the Big West.
ALL-TIME LEADERS
CSUN's Hungarian duo of Dorottya Telek and Anna Pal are set to wrap up their historic collegiate career this season. Both will leave CSUN as two of the most decorated Matador players in program history. Telek entered this season as the school's all-time career goal leader before eventually surpassing the 300-goal milestone this season and eventually reaching 370 total goals. With her 98 tallies this season, Telek is just four goals away from breaking her own single-season goal record (101 goals) she set two seasons ago. This season has seen more history with Pal breaking the school's all-time assist mark, reaching 206 total helpers. Pal has also entered the all-time top 10 goals list at CSUN, moving into sixth-place with 193 total goals. With seven more goals this season, Pal would own the distinction of being the only Matador in history to reach 200 goals and 200 assists for a career.
SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA
The 19th-ranked Gauchos are 15-11 overall and 1-4 in Big West play. After dropping their first four Big West matches, the Gauchos notched their first conference win last Saturday at Cal State Fullerton by an 11-8 score. Annie Kuester leads the Gauchos with 53 goals and 71 points while Bella Mady has 42 goals and Imani Clemons has 41 goals. Juju Amaral has been the top distributor on the team with 46 assists to go with 69 points. Goalie Ava Donleavy has racked up 174 saves with a 9.37 goals-against-average.
Series History: UCSB leads CSUN 23-19 in the all-time series. After seven consecutive wins in the series for UCSB, CSUN took last season's meeting with a come-from-behind 9-8 victory, highlighted by a late game-winning tally from Anna Pal. Two seasons ago, the teams played in another thriller with UCSB pulling out a 13-12 sudden victory win.
#GoMatadorsÂ
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Players Mentioned
Attacker
/ Women's Water Polo
Utility
/ Women's Water Polo
Utility
/ Women's Water Polo
Utility
/ Women's Water Polo
Utility
/ Women's Water Polo
Utility
/ Women's Water Polo
Utility
/ Women's Water Polo
Attacker
/ Women's Water Polo
Attacker
/ Women's Water Polo
Goalkeeper
/ Women's Water Polo
Center
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