For the first time since 2019, the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center will be the stage of the Women’s Water Polo Big West Championships from April 10-12. Long Beach State, for the second year in a row, secured the No. 2 seed and will face No. 7 seed Cal State Fullerton in the quarterfinal round on Friday at 2:30 p.m. Both semifinal and final games will be live on ESPN+, and every game will have live stats through TheFOSH.net. The winner of the tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships hosted by UC San Diego later in the month.
After an intense Black and Blue rivalry match on Thursday night to close the regular season, the Beach (15-10, 6-1 Big West) secured the second seed after defeating UC Irvine (12-13, 4-3 Big West) in sudden death overtime, behind a career-high six goals from junior Chiara Amoroso. Amoroso scored her 100th career goal, tying the game in overtime, and her 101st to seal the win for the Beach.
Senior Elisa Portillo continues to lead the Beach and ranks second in the Big West with 65 goals, 51 assists, and 33 steals. Lucy Miszewski follows right behind with 61 goals, 34 assists, and 27 steals. Amoroso showed throughout the season to be a key player for the Beach, scoring 53 goals, third on the team. Freshman Polina Synytsia impressed in the cage, recording 188 saves, ranking second in the conference, while adding 16 steals and six assists in her debut for Long Beach State.
In the quarterfinal round, LBSU will face the No. 7 seed Cal State Fullerton (17-14, 1-6 Big West) on Friday afternoon. The Titans closed the regular season suffering a tough loss to league champions, No. 1 seed Hawai’i, 20-2. The Titans were led by Destiny Hernandez in the regular season, scoring a team-high 47 goals and recording 35 steals. Emme Doube-MacLeod has a team-high 31 assists, while Renske Boxsem recorded 187 saves and 26 steals.
Both teams faced each other during conference play, as the Beach controlled the Titans at home for a 22-3 win.
If the Beach secures the win over Fullerton, the semifinal will be against the winner of No. 3 seed UC Davis and No. 6 seed CSUN on Saturday at 4 p.m.
First sprint against the Titans is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Friday, with live stats provided through TheFOSH.net.
In the noon match, UC Irvine will play UC San Diego. UCSD is led by Abigail Schechter, who has a team-high 54 goals on the season. Los Alamitos High alum, Sydney Munatones, leads the Tritons in assists with 29 on the season. Compiled with her 13 goals on the season, she is third on the team in the points, with 42. Her twin sister Sophia Munatones is tied for fourth on the season with 40 points, including 24 goals. The overall points leader for the Tritons is Emily Cloherty, with 43 goals and 19 assists, for 62 total points.
Big West Conference Tournament Schedule
Quarterfinals – Friday, April 10
10 a.m. – (1) Hawai’i vs. (8) UC Santa Barbara
Noon – (4) UC Irvine vs. (5) UC San Diego
2:30 p.m. – (2) Long Beach State vs. (7) Cal State Fullerton
4:30 p.m. – (3) UC Davis vs. (6) CSUN
Semifinals – Saturday, April 11
2 p.m. – No. 1/8 winner vs. No. 4/5 winner (Live on ESPN+)
4 p.m. – No. 2/7 winner vs. No. 3/6 winner (Live on ESPN+)
Final – Sunday, April 12
2 p.m. – Championship (Live on ESPN+)
