SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The No. 14 UC Santa Barbara Women's Water Polo team returns to competition this week, making a trip to Santa Clara Wednesday before returning home to host No. 7 UC Irvine on Friday. The Gauchos will face both Santa Clara and West Valley College on Wednesday.
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
UC Santa Barbara and Santa Clara will get underway at noon on Wednesday from Sullivan Aquatic Center, with Santa Barbara's matchup against West Valley set to begin at 2:30 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets and watch a live stream of the Gauchos' game against the Broncos through santaclarabroncos.com.
 
Santa Barbara will host UC Irvine at Santa Barbara High School on Friday, with that game scheduled to start at 12 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public until the venue's capacity is reached. Fans can also catch the game live on ESPN+. Live stats will be available for all three of this week's games on ucsbgauchos.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos were last in action on March 9, having taken the last two weekends off to accommodate UC Santa Barbara's final exam period. That March 9 contest was a 10-4 defeat to Long Beach State.
 
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAUCHOS
UC Santa Barbara's defense has been its foundation for success this season, with goalkeeper Madison Walker providing a backbone. The sophomore netminder has played in every game this season and owns one of the top save percentages in The Big West (.519). Earlier this year, she was named to the Cutino Award Watch List, the award for the top collegiate water polo player in the country.
 
In front of Walker, the Gauchos have a relentless defense that excels at hounding opposing ball-handlers. Leigh Lyter and Juju Amaral have 30 steals each, leading The Big West. Walker is a prolific ball thief herself, with 28. Annie Kuester (nine) and Drew Halvorson (eight) also rank in the conference's top 10 for field blocks.
 
When it comes to the attack, Amaral (30 goals), Lyter (29 goals) and Kuester (28 goals) are the sharpest three prongs of an all-hands-on-deck offense. Newcomer Christina Mullane has been a key piece, scoring 21 goals and assisting 20 more for 41 points in her first season in Blue and Gold, the second most on the team. Imani Clemons (19 goals) adds an inside presence from her center position, and veteran defender Drew Halvorson has played an increased role on offense. The fifth-year Gaucho already has a career-high 18 assists this season and is two away from her career high for goals.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Santa Clara comes into the week at just 5-15 on the year and on a four-game losing streak. The Broncos sit in seventh place in the eight-team Golden Coast Conference and have lost all seven of their previous games against ranked opponents. Senior center Elle Fredrickson is the player to watch for Santa Clara; she was named to the Cutino Award Watchlist and leads the Broncos with 22 goals this season. Sophomore Sydney Maccabe also received accolades earlier this season, being named GCC Player of the Week back in February. She is the Broncos' primary sprinter, coming in with a 34-21 record.
 
West Valley College finished their season, which runs during the fall, with a 27-7 record and a fourth consecutive CCCAA Northern California Championship. The Vikings finished as the third-place team at the CCCAA State Championship and nearly had three different 60-goal scorers. Aiyana Mendoza led the team with 87, Bella Raynes tallied 65, and Hannah Edwards had 59.
 
UC Irvine were picked to repeat as champions in this year's Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll, but their title defense has not been a cruise. The Anteaters come into the week with the same record as the Gauchos, 12-9 and 1-1 in Big West Play, having dropped their conference opener to UC San Diego. They won their last contest at CSUN, 15-8, and will face Brown before coming to Santa Barbara.
 
Center Maja Layden scored a hat-trick in Irvine's win over CSUN, a feat which only expands the list of players opposing defenses have to cover. The Anteaters have a quartet of 20-goal scorers, with attacker Brooke Hourigan and utility Libby Alexander leading the way at 30 each. In goal, Irvine has Preseason All-Big West honoree Faith Tedesco, who ranks fourth in The Big West with an 8.97 goals-against average and fifth with a .459 save percentage.
 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will continue Big West play next weekend, playing at CSUN Friday, April 5 and hosting UC San Diego on Sunday, April 7. They will also visit Concordia Irvine on Saturday, April 6.