No. 11 Women's Water Polo To Play In CWPA Tournament At Harvard

Saturday, April 27

Cambridge, Mass.

2:00 PM

Princeton University

#24 Brown

Ally Lurie

No. 11 Women's Water Polo To Play In CWPA Tournament At Harvard

April 26, 2024 | Women's Water Polo

PRINCETON – The Princeton Women's Water Polo Team heads to Cambridge this weekend for the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship.

The Tigers are the defending CWPA Tournament Champions after taking down Harvard, 12-8. Princeton went onto to finish 30-4 overall becoming just the third team in program history record at least 30 victories (2014, 2015). The Tigers reached the national semifinals for the first time ever and became the first non-West Coast to get to the Final Four since 2016.

Princeton is 21-6 this season and currently on a seven-game winning streak. The Tigers went undefeated in conference action (10-0) and at home (12-0). 13 of the Princeton's 21 victories were against ranked foes.

The Tigers have won five conference titles in program history (2000, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2023). They will play on Saturday at 2 p.m. against the winner of the Brown and Bucknell. The championship game will be on Sunday at 12 p.m.

Earlier this week, Lindsey Lucas was named CWPA Most Valuable Player while Derek Ellingson was honored as CWPA Coach of the Year.

Lucas is the third Princeton player to be named Player of the Year, joining Ashleigh Johnson in 2015 and Jovana Sekulic in 2023. Lucas was also picked as First-Team All-Conference. She went 16-6 this season with a .554 save percentage and 222 saves, adding 20 steals. She produced 12 games in 2024 with at least 10 saves including a season-best 17 stops vs. No. 21 San Diego State (Feb. 18) and vs. No. 11 Michigan (Apr. 6). Lucas was named Defensive Player of the Week seven times.

Kayla Yelensky was honored as First-Team All-Conference, producing 60 goals, 20 assists along with 40 drawn ejections and 30 steals. Her 60 tallies already matches her career high. She scored in 24 of the team's 27 games, recording 10 hat tricks and 18 multi-goal performances. The junior set a new personal mark with five tallies vs. Azusa Pacific (Jan. 27), Mt. St Mary's (Feb. 18) and vs. Iona (Mar. 20).

Rachael Carver was named First-Team All-Conference as she led the team in points with 87. She has put up 32 goals and a team-best 65 assists while also contributing 19 drawn ejections and 17 steals. Carver has eight multi-goal games including two hat tricks and has snagged an assist in all but two games. The junior has 19 multi-assist contests including a career-high six helpers in a comeback victory over Wagner (Mar. 28).

"The past two weeks has been a great opportunity for our team to train hard heading into this weekend and has also allowed us to reflect on our season as well," said Carver. "Going undefeated in conference is something special, but we all recognize none of that matters this weekend in defending our CWPA title and making it to the NCAA Tournament again. This team is special and we're all very excited to showcase what we've been working on all season long!"

Ellingson's crew has 11 players with at least 10+ goals in Yelensky, Kaila Carroll (5), Carver (32), Meera Burghardt (31), Shanna Davidson (30), Kate Mallery (24), Charlotte Riches (20), Ava Houlahan (19), Olivia Krotts (18), Ally Lurie (14) and CiCi Stewart (10).