#25 CSUN Wraps Up Regular Season at #15 UC Davis

Saturday, April 4

Davis, Calif.

12:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

#15 UC Davis

Photo by: Bella A Enriquez

#25 CSUN Wraps Up Regular Season at #15 UC Davis

4/2/2026 10:51:00 AM | Women's Water Polo

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---No. 25 CSUN Water Polo (17-7, 2-3 Big West) concludes the regular season this Saturday when the Matadors visit No. 15 UC Davis in a Big West contest. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+ starting at noon.

FOR STARTERS
With the 2026 Big West Women's Water Polo Championship on the horizon, the Matadors currently hold on to the fifth seed in the Big West standings with one match left to go. A win over UC Davis would assure CSUN of the fifth seed in the conference tournament while a loss could drop the Matadors to sixth. All eight Big West teams will compete at the conference championship, set to begin on Friday April 10 at Long Beach State.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
CSUN dropped a pair of Big West matches at Matador Pool last week as the Matadors fell to ninth-ranked UC Irvine 16-9 last Thursday and to eighth-ranked Long Beach State 22-6 last Saturday. The Matadors wrapped up the regular season with a 4-3 record at Matador Pool.

Against UCI, the Matadors spotted the Anteaters five goals to start and would play catch up the rest of the way. CSUN scored five of its nine goals in the second half but could not make up the gap. Freshmen Mira Dravucz and Sophia Cooper led the offense with two goals apiece in defeat.

Long Beach State would blitz CSUN, scoring five goals in each of the first two quarters while the Matadors did not score until the 2:12 mark of the third quarter. Cooper once again scored two goals in the contest and senior Leah Huisar chipped in two as well in her final match at Matador Pool.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
Much of CSUN's production has come from their underclassmen in 2026 as the top six goal scorers and top eight point producers are either freshmen or sophomores. Freshman Mira Dravucz has emerged as the team's top goal scorer, racking up a team-high 61 tallies, which ranks third-best in the Big West. Dravucz has also recorded the second-most assists on the team with 27 to give her a team-best 88 points. A sophomore, Sofia Martinez ranks ninth in the Big West with a career-high 45 goals on the year to go with a team-high 34 steals. Other top goal scorers on the team include freshmen Ella Furuholmen (36), Sophia Cooper (29 goals), Marjorie Krueger (26 goals) and Ashley Strickland (24 goals). In the assist department, sophomore Lucie Lapuz has already totaled 30 helpers to lead the squad.

SCOUTING UC DAVIS
The 15th-ranked Aggies are winners of four in a row after notching wins last week against UC San Diego (12-11), Brown (17-13) and Cal State Fullerton (12-6). UC Davis comes in with a 13-12 overall record and 4-2 mark in Big West play. The team's two losses in Big West action have come to Long Beach State and Hawai'i by 8-6 and 9-8 scores, respectively. Three Aggies have scored 30 or more goals this season, led by Chelsea Johnson who has 46 goals. Gianna Nocetti, the reigning Big West Player of the Week, has totaled 40 goals and 39 assists this season while Ashley Wallin has recorded 60 assists to go with 35 goals.

Series History: The Aggies lead the Matadors 25-8 in the all-time series. Last season, UC Davis defeated CSUN by a 17-11 score at Matador Pool, however, the Matadors picked up a road 7-6 win in their last trip to Davis in 2024.

#GoMatadors