TEMPE, Ariz. — The UC Santa Barbara Women's Water Polo team (1-7) makes its first out-of-state trip of the season this weekend, traveling to Arizona for the ASU Invitational. The Gauchos will take on No. 10 Fresno State and No. 19 San Diego State on Saturday before wrapping up the weekend against No. 20 Pacific and hosts No. 6 Arizona State on Sunday.
 
LAST TIME OUT
This young Santa Barbara team continued to grow into the season despite four frustrating results at the Triton Invitational in La Jolla last weekend. Brynn Tully and Zoe Ann Watson each scored their first collegiate goals over the course of the four-game slate, and Lydia Soderberg had a breakout weekend in net, including making nine saves in the Gauchos' close loss to Cal State Fullerton. While none of the results fell Santa Barbara's way, the offense was at its most consistent so far in the young season, with the Gauchos scoring nine or more goals in each of their last three games. While the rookies started to find their feet, captain Molly Souza led from the front with four goals against the Titans as part of a five-goal Saturday. Fellow returners Isabel Valaika and Hadley Hall both chipped in with two-goal games in the finale, as did quick-learning Emmerson Ferriera; she is tied with Eliza Harlow and Gigi Rimlinger as the Gauchos' top-scoring rookie with six points.    

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
No. 10 Fresno State (5-3, 0-0 GCC) went 2-2 at the Brigitte Donner Daws Memorial Invitational in Berkeley, opening with a 10-8 win over No. 12 San Jose State and a loss to No. 4 Cal. Senior attacker Hailey Andress led the Bulldogs' offense with six goals for the weekend, while freshman goalkeeper Katelyn Mobley posted a season-high 16 saves in the loss to the Aggies. Fresno State comes off a strong 2025 campaign in which they went 14-8 overall and 6-1 in Golden Coast Conference play, advancing to the GCC Championship game before falling to Loyola Marymount. The Bulldogs return a core of offensive contributors, including ACWPC All-American honorable mention Andress, looking to build on last year's success.
 
No. 19 San Diego State (5-4, 0-0 GCC) competed at the Triton Invitational in La Jolla last weekend, finishing with a 2-2 record highlighted by a 12-9 win over No. 25 Pomona-Pitzer and a 19-5 victory over Concordia. The Aztecs looked to Mimi Stoupas—who scored a team-leading six goals on opening day—and Megan Holcomb, who tallied a career-high four goals in their final game. In the 2025 season, San Diego State finished 15-15 overall with a 4-3 mark in conference play, advancing to the Golden Coast Semifinals before a 16-10 loss to LMU.  The Aztecs will look to their veteran scorers, especially First Team All-GCC attacker Stoupas, who brings national experience from the 2025 FISA World University Games to San Diego's lineup.
 
No. 17 Pacific (1-1, 0-0 GCC) enters this weekend riding a 1-1 record after dropping a 25-9 contest at No. 4 Cal in their most recent outing. The Tigers showed flashes of offense despite facing a top-ranked opponent, with freshman Eleni Ikonomou leading the attack with a hat trick and six different Tigers tallying goals in the contest. Pacific opened its season with a commanding win over Fresno Pacific and will look to keep building offensive consistency as they head into this week's competition.
 
No. 6 Arizona State (8-1, 0-0 MPSF) continued its impressive start at the Triton Invitational, going 3-1 against a competitive field. The Sun Devils opened with a 16-10 victory over No. 18 Michigan and responded after a loss to No. 3 UCLA with wins over UC Irvine and LMU. Senior attacker Millie Quin has been a key offensive leader, posting several multi-goal games, including a five-goal performance against UC Irvine. With a 19-9 overall and 1-5 conference record last year, Arizona State will look for more MPSF success in the 2026 season, as they placed fifth in the conference tournament last April.
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
The Gauchos will start the weekend at 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time on Saturday, taking on Fresno State before facing San Diego State at 2 p.m. Pacific Time, with both games being played at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe, Arizona. Santa Barbara will then close out the weekend with a pair of matchups on Sunday, squaring off with Pacific at 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time before 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time contest against host Arizona State. All four of Santa Barbara's matches will have live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com/WWPLiveStats, with Sunday's clash with the Sun Devils to be live streamed on overnght.com.