No. 10 Women's Water Polo Battles No. 2 Hawaii Friday in NCAA Quarterfinals

GAME NOTES

Berkeley – The No. 10 Princeton Women's Water Polo Team begins its NCAA Tournament journey on Friday at the Spieker Aquatics Complex.

The Tigers, the No. 7 seed, take on the No. 2 seeded Hawaii Rainbow Warriors at 7 p.m. (4 p.m. PT) on Friday. That winner will take on the winner of No. 3 Cal and Fresno State on Saturday at 7 p.m. (4 p.m. PT).

On the other side of the bracket, No. 1 UCLA battles Wagner and No. 4 Stanford plays No. 5 USC.

The National Championship game in on Sunday at 10 p.m. (7 p.m. PT) on ESPNU.

This is the program's fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The 2000 CWPA Champions participated in the non-NCAA Collegiate National Championship, placing eighth. In 2012, the Tigers won a consolation round before finishing sixth overall A year later, the group won two contests, corralling a fifth-place performance. In 2015, the Tigers earned a sixth-place tally and did not go back until 2023.

Last season, Princeton reached the national semifinals for the first time ever and became the first non-West Coast to get to the Final Four since 2016.

The Orange and Black qualified for the NCAA Tournament with its second straight CWPA Championship in a 10-9 takedown of No. 13 Michigan on April 28th.

Ava Houlahan scored the game winning goal with 1:21 to go to secure the win. Kayla Yelensky was named MVP of the tournament.

This was the sixth conference title in program history for Princeton and the second time the team has done it in back-to-back years. It's also the third time that the men and women have won conference championships in the same academic year (2011-12, 2022-23, 2023-24).

Head coach Derek Ellingson's group began the 2024 season at the Rainbow Invitational with two losses to No. 4 Hawaii and No. 5 Fresno State. Princeton would then go on a 13-game winning streak, collecting six ranked decisions during that stretch along with five conference victories. The Tigers' 13-game winning streak was tied for the ninth longest in program history.

Princeton dropped two contests at the Aztec Invitational, falling to No. 13 Indiana and No. 13 UC San Diego. The Tigers defeated Pomona-Pitzer before finishing the West Coast trip to with two losses to No. 11 LMU and No. 1 UCLA.

Ellingson's squad rebounded from the end of the West Coast trip with seven consecutive victories to end the regular season with four ranked wins.

The Tigers completed the regular season undefeated at home at 12-0. Princeton has won 20 straight games at DeNunzio Pool with their last loss coming to No. 17 Wagner on Jan. 29, 2023.

In the CWPA Championships, the Tigers dropped No. 24 Brown, 9-7, behind Yelensky's four goals before Houlahan's game-winner vs. Michigan sent them to the NCAA Tournament.

Yelensky, Lindsey Lucas, and Rachael Carver were named to the CWPA All-Tournament First Team while Kaila Carroll, Houlahan and Meera Burghardt were selected as Honorable Mention.

Lucas was the third player in program history be named Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) 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 18-6 this season with a .552 save percentage and 240 saves, adding 21 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. This was her second First-Team All-Conference accolade and second major conference award as she was Rookie of the Year in 2023.

Yelensky was honored as First-Team All-Conference, producing a career-high 67 goals, 23 assists along with 46 drawn ejections and 31 steals. She scored in 26 of the team's 29 games, recording 12 hat tricks and 20 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). She picked up two Player of the Week selections this season. This is her third all-conference nomination and second first-team pick.

Carver was named First-Team All-Conference as she led the team in points with 102. She has put up 32 goals and a team-best 70 assists while also contributing 22 drawn ejections and 18 steals. She has eight multi-goal games including two hat tricks and has snagged an assist in all but two games. The junior has 20 multi-assist contests including a career-high six helpers in a comeback victory over Wagner (Mar. 28). She earned CWPA Player of the Week twice this campaign. This is her first all-conference honor.

The Tigers have eight players with at least 20 goals in Yelensky (67), Carroll (52), Carver (32), Shanna Davidson (32), Burghardt (31), Kate Mallery (25), Houlahan (23) and Charlotte Riches (21).

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