HONOLULU — The UC Santa Barbara Women's Water Polo team (1-16, 0-5 Big West) is in Hawai'i to round out their Spring Break week, preparing for a Saturday night matchup with the preseason Big West favorite No. 6 Rainbow Wahine (11-5, 4-0 Big West).
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos have had two full weeks to prepare for their marquee matchup on Oahu, having last played on March 13 at CSUN. That 12-6 defeat in Northridge continued a trend for this young Santa Barbara team, with their strong sequences not enough to overcome the bad moments, as the Gauchos shut out the Matadors in the second quarter but only scored one goal at the other end. Earlier in the month, Santa Barbara's work to out-score Cal State Fullerton in both the second and fourth frames was just not enough to overcome a three-goal deficit from the first quarter. The Gauchos also had a strong third quarter against a UC Irvine team that received a first-place vote in the same preseason poll that projects this weekend's opponents to repeat as conference champions.
 
Individually, team co-captain Cami Mras continued to lead by example with two more goals against the Matadors; she has 24 on the season to lead the squad. Hadley Hall, who ranks third on the team in goals, also tallied twice in the last match. Promising rookies Eliza Harlow and Emmerson Ferriera also both found the net against CSUN two weekends ago; Harlow is fourth on the squad and leads all of Santa Barbara's rookies with 14 goals to her name this year.
 
SCOUTING THE RAINBOW WAHINE
Hawai'i may have only just edged out Long Beach State to top The Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll, but the Rainbow Wahine collected five of a possible seven first-place votes after claiming the conference crown in 2025. The team has spent time as high as No. 4 in the national rankings this season, and three of the seven Preseason All-Big West honorees play for Hawai'i.
 
One of those preseason picks, sophomore attacker and 2024 Olympian Ema Vernoux, is coming off a five-goal outing against No. 3 USC in the Rainbow Wahine's last match, a performance that earned her Big West Player of the Week honors. Goalkeeper Daisy Logtens also has a weekly honor on her resume this season, as well as one of those three preseason all-conference nods, the third going to redshirt sophomore utility player Agatha Weston. Weston ranks second on the team and seventh in the conference in points per game this season, with 3.1. The only 'Bow with more is Spanish freshman Ariadna Temprano Xambó, with 3.3.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
The Gauchos and Hawai'i will hit the water at 9 p.m. PDT on Saturday from the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Center in Manoa, Oahu. Fans can follow along with live stats and play-by-play updates at ucsbgauchos.com/WWPLiveStats.