Seattle, WA -- The #10 University of Washington Women's Water Polo Club A team went 4-0 this past weekend and the B team went 2-2 while competing at the Willamalane Aquatic Center in Springfield, Ore. to post a combined 6-2 mark. Therefor the Huskies A team have once again secured the No. 1 seed for the Northwest Division Championship while the B team has secured the No. 5 seed, the highest seed since the B team was first created 4 years ago.
The Huskies A team which hasn't lost in the division since January of 2016, outscored their opponents this weekend 57-13, including a 13-7 win over their rival, the University of Oregon A.
The offense over the weekend was spread out amongst the team with every player scoring and once again led by captains, Karli Stone (#4, Tacoma, WA) and Mary Elizabeth Ward (#6, San Rafael, CA) with 15 and 12 goals respectively along with a combined 15 assists. In addition both players led the team in steals with 9 and 8 to aide first year goalie, Shelby Smith (#1, San Diego, CA) who had 27 saves for the weekend.
Frances Dizard (#3, Seattle, WA), Kellie MacPhee (#2, Encinitas, CA), and Anastasia Bondarenko (#10, Bellevue, WA) were all heavy contributors and scored, 8, 7, and 6 goals respectively along with Dizard contributing an additional 10 assists, to earn Northwest Division Player of the Week honors.
The A team set the tone for the weekend, with a 17-2 drumming of Portland State in their first match. Almost every player scored in the game while Stone and Ward both led with 5 and 6 goals, along with 6 and 4 steals, to earn co-players of the game.
The Huskies would go on to beat their rival, University of Oregon A, 13-7, and extend the win streak to 6 straight games since 2016 over the Ducks. Once again Ward and Stone led with 4 goals, along with an additional 3 goals on 4 shots from Dizard.
Next up, was a rematch with Western Washington, which the Huskies dispatched 18-3 and saw multi-goal efforts from MacPhee, Dizard, Stone, Ward and Bondarenko along with 10 assists.
There was no fourth game as it would have been against UW B, which per to league rules for A and B programs from the same school, is an automatic forfeit in favor of the A team.
Meanwhile, the UW B team had their most successful CWPA tournament yet, posting their first 2-1 weekend in program history to go along with their first ever #5 seed for the Northwest Division Championships.
The Dawgs began their weekend with a 19-8 win over Western Washington, including a 5 goals on 7 shots effort from Hannah Sokol (#18, Arroyo Grande, CA). Sokol, for the weekend, went for 11 goals, 7 steals, and 8 ejections earned in three games to earn Northwest Player of the Week honors along with Dizard.
The Huskies played the Oregon State University B team next and won 13-1 in an outstanding defensive effort. Highlights of the match included 3 steals a piece for Arielle Howell (#6, Olympia, WA), Nicole Sargent (#5, Arcadia, CA), Sophia Ko (#13, Puyallup, WA) and Jane Wynne (#18, Mill Valley, CA).
On Sunday, the B team would get a chance at a rematch against Portland State, which is turning into a great rivalry.
After once again going down 1-4 in the first quarter to the Vikings, the Huskies came charging back and tied it up 6-6 to send the game into overtime. Unfortunately, the Huskies came up just short, after allowing a goal late in the second period of overtime to go down 6-7 to the Vikings. Despite the slow start, the Huskies had 17 steals in the game to go along with 7 ejections earned.
Even though it was a tough loss, the UW B team's performance over the weekend allowed them to secure the #5 seed in Northwest Division Championships, their highest ever.
Next week, the UW A team will be heading to California to once again compete in the Foothill Invitational tournament in Los Altos, CA where they will compete against several Northern California Community Colleges along with some of the best collegiate club teams in the country. After that, the Huskies will be hosting the Northwest Divisional Championships next month at Rogers High School, April 13-14th. Stay tuned.