#23 CSUN Water Polo Hosts Mini Invite on Thursday to Begin Busy Weekend

Thursday, March 5

Northridge, Calif.

4:30 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

Villanova

Photo by: Chuck Marvel

#23 CSUN Water Polo Hosts Mini Invite on Thursday to Begin Busy Weekend

3/4/2026 3:15:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---The 23rd-ranked CSUN Water Polo (10-4, 1-1 Big West) team kicks off a busy six-match weekend on Thursday by hosting its second mini invite of the season at Matador Pool.

CSUN, Vilanova and McKendree will compete in the three-team invite on Thursday in Northridge. The first match features Villanova and McKendree at 2:30 p.m. followed by the Matadors facing Villanova at 4:30 p.m. CSUN wraps up the day against McKendree at 6:30 p.m. Live stats will be provided for all three matches.

CSUN will then travel to Occidental for the Convergence Tournament starting Friday. On day one, the Matadors take on Iona at 2 p.m. and host Occidental at 7 p.m. CSUN closes the invite on Saturday against Salem University at 9:45 a.m. and UC Merced at 2:45 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
CSUN suffered a 20-8 defeat to No. 15 UC San Diego in La Jolla last Saturday in a Big West matchup. The Matadors kept pace with the Tritons for most of the first half, tying the game at 6-6 before a late 3-0 UCSD run closed the second quarter. The Tritons would not look back in the second half, outscoring the Matadors 11-2 over the final two quarters. Freshman Mira Dravucz had three points to go with two goals while goalkeeper Erika Staine finished with five saves.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
CSUN remained ranked at No. 23 in this week's CWPA national top-25 poll. The Matadors' opponent on Thursday, Villanova, received votes in this week's poll. Overall, CSUN has been ranked six times out of seven possible weeks this season.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
CSUN has relied on its underclassmen to shoulder much of the offensive load this season, as the team's top nine goal scorers are either freshmen or sophomores. True freshman Mira Dravucz leads the Matadors and ranks second in the Big West with 41 goals on 57.7 percent shooting to go with 54 points. Sophomore Sofia Martinez has hit the net 26 times while she tops CSUN in steals with 21. Freshman center Ella Furuholmen has posted 19 goals while freshman Sophia Cooper has totaled 16. The rest of CSUN's double-digit goal scorers include freshman Marjorie Krueger (15 goals), freshman Ashley Strickland (14 goals), sophomore Mackenzie Wood (12 goals), sophomore Lucie Lapuz (10 goals) and freshman Raygan Carroll (10 goals).

ERIKA MANAGING THE CAGE
Junior goalkeeper Erika Staine enters the weekend ranked second in the Big West with a 10.60 goals-against-average. In 10 matches, Staine has totaled 77 saves, which ranks seventh-best in the Big West, while she has racked up 283 minutes in front of the cage. Stained has also recorded double-digit saves three times this season, highlighted by a season-high 14 against Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 20.

WARSHAW TIES COACHING RECORD
Head coach Matt Warshaw notched his 127th all-time career coaching win on Feb. 20 when CSUN knocked off Cal State Fullerton. The victory tied Warshaw with Molly Barnes for the most career wins in CSUN women's water polo history. Warshaw, who is CSUN's longest tenured head coach, has posted a 127-121 all-time record with the Matadors over his nine seasons at the helm.

A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS
Villanova enters play this week at 8-6 overall after splitting games last week against Harvard (19-7 loss) and UC Merced (18-4 win). The team has gone 5-3 away from home this season ... McKendree is 4-8 on the year after dropping four games in Ann Arbor, Mich. last week. A year ago, McKendree won the WWPA Championship and played in the National Collegiate Water Polo Championship for the first time in its history ... Iona has a 5-9 overall record following a pair of wins over Salem (13-11) and Connecticut College (20-6) last week. Sadie Sallas has notched the team's most goals with 32 this season ... Occidental holds a 2-8 record on the season as the team earned a win over La Verne, 12-9, before falling to Pomona-Pitzer, 23-2, last week. Isabella Wilde leads the team in goals with 12 in 2026 ... Salem University is 3-4 on the season following recent losses to Iona, 13-11, and to nationally-ranked Marist, 16-8. The Tigers are coming off a 10-win season in 2025 ... UC Merced is 1-8 thus far this season following four losses to D-1 teams at the Harvard Invite last weekend. Ava Faria holds the team lead in goals in the early going with nine.

#GoMatadors