CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The No. 15 UC Santa Barbara Women's Water Polo team (7-3) makes their second big trip east this weekend, traveling to Massachusetts for Harvard's Crimson Classic. The Gauchos will take on hosts No. 18 Harvard on Friday, then No. 21 Brown and Villanova on Saturday before wrapping up the weekend in a marquee matchup against No. 8 Princeton on Sunday.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Santa Barbara made another strong showing last weekend, upsetting then-No. 11 Loyola Marymount and knocking off Big West foe Cal State Fullerton at the Triton Invitational in La Jolla. The Gauchos also pushed then-No. 7 Fresno State all the way to overtime last weekend, then hung tough against Arizona State, who were tied with Fresno State at No. 7 in the rankings at the time.
 
Annie Kuester continued to lead the attack for Santa Barbara, tallying 10 goals across the four games to bring her season total up to 25. Freshman Bella Mady poured in the scores as well, with six on the weekend, and already has 20 to her name just 10 games into her collegiate career. Madison Walker and Ava Donleavy each played two of the games in goal and each posted an 11-save effort on the weekend.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
No. 18 Harvard (3-1, 0-0 CWPA) played their first games of the year last weekend, hosting LIU, Wagner, Indiana and Redlands. Only the Hoosiers defeated the Crimson, doing so by a 14-10 scoreline after a second-half comeback. Harvard is coming off a 2024 campaign in which they went 13-14 but did see three players earn All-America Honorable Mention, all three of whom are back for 2025: junior attacker Ruby Hodge and sophomores Emma Gilbert and Maya O'Dea. Additionally, a pair of Crimson freshmen — goalkeeper Orli Cooper and defender Niki Piovan — got international experience this fall, competing at the U18 World Championships for the United States and Greece, respectively.
 
No. 21 Brown (2-2, 0-0 CWPA) started their season at home last weekend too, hosting Iona, Indiana, Pacific and Villanova, defeating the Gaels and Wildcats while falling to the Hoosiers and Tigers, each by one-goal margins. The Bears will face another set of Tigers, the ones from Princeton, on Friday before taking on the Gauchos. Like Harvard, Brown finished the 2024 season right around the .500 mark at 17-16 and also had three All-America Honorable Mentions. Only two of them are back for this season: juniors Madeline Poissonnier and Ella Palmer. Two Bears, Ava Schoening and Samantha Kim, were named Collegiate Water Polo Association Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, on Wednesday.
 
Villanova (5-3, 0-0 MAAC) also had a Player of the Week recipient this week, with junior goalkeeper Gracin Kerry being named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week for a second week in a row. She made 36 saves over four games last weekend, though the Wildcats managed just one win, over Salem, suffering defeats against Pacific (in double overtime), Marist and Brown. This year, the Wildcats are without two-time All-MAAC attacker Stella Byles, who graduated in 2024, but they may have an up-and-coming replacement in Riley Hull, who earned MAAC Rookie of the Week honors after scoring 14 goals over four games two weeks ago.
 
No. 8 Princeton (3-0, 0-0 CWPA) has a packed schedule before facing the Gauchos on Sunday, opening their conference campaign against Brown on Friday and Harvard on Saturday. They then face UC San Diego before battling the Gauchos. Junior center Jovana Sekulic is the player to watch for Princeton; she spent her summer competing for Team USA at the Paris Olympics, then her fall winning gold at the Pan America Games and her winter competing at the Water Polo World Cup.
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
The Gauchos will get the weekend underway at 4 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday, Feb. 7, facing off with the hosting Crimson from Blodgett Pool in Cambridge. Santa Barbara will then play two games on Saturday, facing Brown at 8:40 a.m. Pacific Time and Villanova at 2:10 p.m. Pacific Time. The Gauchos then round out the weekend at 7:20 a.m. Pacific Time on Sunday, when they face Princeton.
 
All four of Santa Barbara's games will be broadcast live on ESPN+ this weekend.