Saturday, January 25
Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center
8:30 a.m.
Long Beach State University
14
vs
6
La Verne
Photo by: John Fajardo
No. 14 Women's Water Polo opens season with three wins at Beach Invite
1/25/2020 5:52:00 PM | Women's Water Polo
The Beach defeats La Verne, No. 20 San Diego State and No. 24 Azusa Pacific on Saturday.
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Hosting the Beach Invite for the first time, the Long Beach State women's water polo team made the most of playing in front of its home crowd at Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center on Saturday.
The Beach (3-0) kick-started the season defeating La Verne 14-6, No. 20 San Diego State 10-9 and No 24 Azusa Pacific 12-6.
"It's exciting to open up the season at your own pool and get your home crowd here," associate head coach Shana Welch said. "I think the girls were really looking forward to it. We got a great showing from the families and support from the community. It was a great weekend and opening up the season 3-0 is the cherry on top."
Junior Elena Kotanchyan scored five goals to lead the Beach on their way to defeat La Verne. Along with Kotanchyan, sophomores Katie Dill and Orsi Hertzka each scored two goals. In the cage, senior Eirini Patras had nine saves.
The game of the day came during the midday match when the Beach was pushed to the test against SDSU.
LBSU never trailed in the match, but after jumping out to an 8-3 lead after third quarter the Beach saw their lead quickly disappear as the Aztecs went on a 6-1 run to tie the game at 9 with 1:25 remaining in the contest.
Hertzka put the game away when she found the back of the cage on a penalty shot that iced the game.
"The (team) did everything we asked them to," Welch said. "We've got a young squad and they're still learning and we're still building on stuff. But I think this is a great starting point and they didn't give up."
In the contest, sophomore Sarah Barker and Kotanchyan each scored three goals. Patras tallied 12 saves to keep SDSU at bay for a majority of the contest.
In the final game against Azusa Pacific, Kotanchyan and Camille Gallardo-Russell lead the way with three goals each.
The Beach will be back in action when they travel to UCLA for the UCLA mini tournament.
The Beach (3-0) kick-started the season defeating La Verne 14-6, No. 20 San Diego State 10-9 and No 24 Azusa Pacific 12-6.
"It's exciting to open up the season at your own pool and get your home crowd here," associate head coach Shana Welch said. "I think the girls were really looking forward to it. We got a great showing from the families and support from the community. It was a great weekend and opening up the season 3-0 is the cherry on top."
Junior Elena Kotanchyan scored five goals to lead the Beach on their way to defeat La Verne. Along with Kotanchyan, sophomores Katie Dill and Orsi Hertzka each scored two goals. In the cage, senior Eirini Patras had nine saves.
The game of the day came during the midday match when the Beach was pushed to the test against SDSU.
LBSU never trailed in the match, but after jumping out to an 8-3 lead after third quarter the Beach saw their lead quickly disappear as the Aztecs went on a 6-1 run to tie the game at 9 with 1:25 remaining in the contest.
Hertzka put the game away when she found the back of the cage on a penalty shot that iced the game.
"The (team) did everything we asked them to," Welch said. "We've got a young squad and they're still learning and we're still building on stuff. But I think this is a great starting point and they didn't give up."
In the contest, sophomore Sarah Barker and Kotanchyan each scored three goals. Patras tallied 12 saves to keep SDSU at bay for a majority of the contest.
In the final game against Azusa Pacific, Kotanchyan and Camille Gallardo-Russell lead the way with three goals each.
The Beach will be back in action when they travel to UCLA for the UCLA mini tournament.
Players Mentioned
Defender
/ Women's Water Polo
Attacker
/ Women's Water Polo
Attacker
/ Women's Water Polo
Attacker
/ Women's Water Polo
Attacker
/ Women's Water Polo
Goalie
/ Women's Water PoloMWP vs. Pomona-Pitzer Highlights
Sunday, November 25
2018 Golden Coast Conference Champions
Sunday, November 18
LBSU Fast 5 Austin Stevenson
Wednesday, November 30
LBSU Fast 5 Jacob Fujioka
Wednesday, November 16
