LA JOLLA, Calif. (April 20, 2023) — The No. 11 UC Santa Barbara women's water polo team heads to America's Finest City this weekend for the 2023 regular season finale against No. 14 UC San Diego. With a win, the Gauchos could finish as high as fourth in The Big West standings, if UC Davis loses to Hawai'i. UCSB cannot finish any lower than sixth in the standings, which determine seeding for next weekend's Big West Championship.
DETAILS
Game 27
Saturday, April 22 | 12 p.m.
No. 11 UC Santa Barbara (18-9, 2-4 Big West) at No. 14 UC San Diego (11-16, 3-3 Big West)
Canyonview Aquatic Center | La Jolla, Calif.
ESPN+ | Live Stats
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos made their first-ever trip to Cal State Fullerton last weekend, taking on a Titans team playing its first season of NCAA water polo. Caitlyn Snyder scored six goals on the day, three in each half, as UCSB cruised to a 16-8 victory.
HISTORY
The Gauchos hold a 35-14 record all-time against the Tritons, but have not beaten UC San Diego since 2020, in a neutral-site match. Since then, the Tritons have won four straight: two in 2021, and two more in 2022. UCSB's last win in La Jolla came back in 2019, a 4-3 win at that year's Triton Invitational.
UP NEXT
Next up for the Gauchos will be The Big West Championship, which UC Santa Barbara will host at Campus Pool, April 28 through 30. UCSB is guaranteed to finish somewhere between the fourth and sixth seeds, meaning their first matchup of the championship weekend will be in game two, which starts 30 minutes following the 9 a.m. game (approximately 11 a.m.) or game four, 30 minutes following the 1p.m. game (approximately 3 p.m.). Ticket sales and more information on The Big West Championship will be available on ucsbgauchos.com on Monday, April 24, once tournament seeding has been finalized.
SUPER SNYDER
In her fifth year at UCSB, Caitlyn Snyder has become the player to watch for the Gauchos. After scoring 42 goals and earning AWPCA All-America honors in 2022, Snyder is having an even better 2023, leading the team in goals (55), assists (42), and steals (37). As speedy as she is skillful, the Fresno native is UCSB's first-choice sprinter, winning 45 of the 56 she has taken part in so far, both team highs.
SOPHOMORES MAKING A SPLASH
While Snyder leads the line in attack for the Gauchos, Leigh Lyter and Juju Amaral have stepped up in only their second seasons of collegiate water polo, giving UCSB a bevy of options on offense. After redshirting the 2021 season, Lyter was named team co-MVP alongside Snyder in 2022 and has kept rolling into 2023. The Manhattan Beach native has 38 goals on the season, including hat-tricks against Long Island and UC Merced, plus four-goal games against Wagner, Indiana (Jan. 21), and Cal State Monterey Bay (March 3).
The true sophomore Amaral has more than doubled her goal total from last season, scoring 30 and assisting 16 more through 27 games. She recorded her first hat-trick of the year on January 20 against Concordia Irvine, her second on February 25 against No. 21 San Diego State, and a third on March 3 against Cal State Monterey Bay, matching her career high for goals in a game.
DEFENDING THE CAGE
The Gauchos are spoiled for choice in the goalkeeping department this season, with Madison Walker emerging as the first-choice netminder. Walker, a member of the US Youth National Team, has 193 saves in 22 appearances so far, recording double-digit stops on nine occasions, including three of the last four matches. She made a career-high 18 saves in the win over Biola, and earlier this season, her 10 saves against No. 3 UCLA on January 22 kept the Gauchos close for much of that game.
In Taylor McEvilly, UCSB has an extremely capable backup to Walker. McEvilly has made eight appearances and has a 7-0 record, with a pair of shutouts to her name. The sophomore combined with Walker to blank Cal State Monterey Bay in the season opener, then kept a solo clean sheet against UC Merced. In total, McEvilly has 28 saves on the season.
BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS RETURN TO CAMPUS POOL
For the first time since 2016, UC Santa Barbara will host The Big West Women's Water Polo Championship, April 28-30 at Campus Pool. Like they did in 2016, the Gauchos will look to hoist the trophy at their home pool. That championship featured a 7-6 overtime victory against UC Irvine in the semifinal and a dominant, 11-5 win over Hawai'i in the final. Only one team, UC Irvine in 2018, has won The Big West tournament as the host institution since UCSB did so seven years ago.
COACH KAY ENTERS NINTH SEASON
Head Coach Serela Kay is in her ninth season at the helm for the Gauchos. With a career record of 112-91 prior to 2023, she is the winningest coach in UC Santa Barbara women's water polo history and the program's only conference Coach of the Year honoree.
In 2019, Kay's Gauchos went 22-8, the most wins and highest winning percentage (.733) in program history, finishing third at The Big West Championship. But Kay's most successful season in Santa Barbara so far was 2016, when she led UCSB to its first ever conference title, NCAA Tournament appearance, and NCAA Tournament win. For her accomplishments, Kay was named 2016 Big West Coach of the Year.
2022 RECAP
UCSB finished the 2022 season with an 11-13 record, ending the year with a nail-biting 11-10 loss to Long Beach State in the first round of The Big West Championship in Honolulu.
Caitlyn Snyder earned an All-American Honorable Mention from the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches, along with her second consecutive All-Big West Honorable Mention. Snyder and Leigh Lyter were named team co-MVPs, as both players tallied 42 goals on the season. The team was also awarded for their work in the classroom and dedication to their studies, setting a new program record with 15 student-athletes being named to the ACWPC Spring 2022 Women's All-Academic Team.
