SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The No. 13 UC Santa Barbara Women's Water Polo team returns to Santa Barbara this weekend, hosting No. 10 Long Beach State on Saturday in a rematch of the first round of last year's Big West Championship. Both the Gauchos and the Beach come into Saturday's contest with a winning percentage of .600 or better on the season, giving the game potential seeding implications for this season's conference tournament.
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
Saturday's game will get underway at 12 p.m. from Santa Barbara High School, where admission will be free and open until the venue's capacity is reached. For fans following from afar, live stats are available through ucsbgauchos.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos opened their 2024 Big West campaign last Saturday in Davis, earning a 7-5 win over UC Davis to start conference play 1-0. Santa Barbara also played a non-conference match against San Jose State last Sunday, a dramatic affair that went the way of the Spartans in double overtime.
 
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAUCHOS
Madison Walker was named The Big West Player of the Week on Wednesday after she continued her excellent season in goal for Santa Barbara last weekend. The Gauchos' goalie ranks second in the conference with 142 saves and leads The Big West with an 8.27 goals-against average. Her 20 starts are also a conference best, as no team has played more games than the Gauchos this season.
 
Walker and the defense in front of her have been Santa Barbara's strong suit this season, as No. 2 Hawai'i is the only team in The Big West with a better scoring defense than the Gauchos. While Walker has been the backbone of that effort, Santa Barbara has plenty of field players capable of harassing opposing ball-handlers. Four Gauchos are among The Big West's top 10 in steals this season, with Leigh Lyter's 30 topping the charts. Walker is tied for second in the conference along with Juju Amaral with 25 swipes each. The Gauchos also have three players among the conference's top 10 in field blocks, with Annie Kuester's nine more than any player not at UC Davis. Veteran defender Drew Halvorson is right behind her with eight.
 
Halvorson has also played an increased role in the Santa Barbara offense this season, tallying a career-high 18 assists along with 18 goals so far. The Gaucho attack has been a balanced team effort this year, with four players in the 20-goal club. Amaral and Lyter have been the focal points, tallying 29 goals each to lead the squad, but Kuester is right behind them with 27. Newcomer Christina Mullane has excelled in her first season in Blue and Gold, tallying 21 goals plus 19 assists. Her .512 shooting percentage is a team high.
 
SCOUTING THE BEACH
Long Beach State comes into the weekend with a 10-6 record, with all six of those losses coming against ranked opponents. On the year, the Beach is 5-6 in Top 25 matchups, but only two of those wins have come against opponents in the top 15 of the national rankings. Saturday will be their first Big West contest of the season, though they have played four games against conference-mates during early season tournaments. In those matchups, the Beach is 1-3, with their lone win coming against then-No. 9 UC San Diego.
 
On offense, Long Beach has a clear centerpiece: Lara Luka. The Serbian utility has already nearly doubled her goal output from last season, hitting 50 through the Beach's first 16 games, the second most in The Big West. She has scored in all but one of her 14 appearances this season, including a seven-goal outburst against UC San Diego last month. To add an additional wrinkle, Elisa Portillo has provided an excellent second option, tallying 30 goals of her own, enough to also crack the conference top-10 list.
 
The Beach is solid defensively as well, allowing just 8.63 goals per game, though their defense is not as frenetic and pesky as the Gauchos'. Only one Long Beach player, Portillo, is among The Big West's top ball thieves, and goalkeeper Chelsea Oliver has only 67 saves on the season.
 
UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara is next in action on March 27, as they head to the Bay Area for a doubleheader at Santa Clara. The Gauchos will take on the Broncos at noon that Wednesday, then face West Valley College, former home of Jojo Scheer, at 2:30 p.m.