No. 6 Women's Water Polo Hosts Princeton Invitational This Weekend

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PRINCETON – The Princeton Women's Water Polo team hosts the Princeton Invitational this weekend at DeNunzio Pool.

The No. 6 ranked squad in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Varsity Poll takes on La Salle on Friday at 7 p.m. before battling LIU on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and No. 22 Wagner on Sunday at 4 p.m. Each game will be streamed on ESPN+.

Some top returners include captains Kayla Yelensky, Lindsey Lucas and Rachael Carver.

Yelensky collected her second All-American honor last season. It was a banner year as she produced a career-high 69 goals, 23 assists along with 47 drawn ejections and 31 steals. She scored in 27 of the team's 30 games, recording 12 hat tricks and 21 multi-goal performances. Yelensky set a new personal mark with five tallies vs. Azusa Pacific (Jan. 27), Mt. St Mary's (Feb. 18) and vs. Iona (Mar. 20).

Lucas was an honorable mention pick, nabbing her second All-American crown in 2024. The now junior became the third player in program history be named CWPA Player of the Year, joining Ashleigh Johnson in 2015 and Jovana Sekulic in 2023. She went 18-7 with a .543 save percentage and 245 saves, adding 23 steals. The goalie 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).

Carver was CWPA First-Team All-Conference during her junior campaign, after leading the team in points, adding 32 goals and a team-best 72 assists. Carver has eight multi-goal games including two hat tricks and snagged an assist in all but two games. The junior had 21 multi-assist contests including a career-high six helpers in a comeback victory over Wagner (Mar. 28).

Sekulic returns after a year away with the United States Women's National Team. She helped the squad to fourth place at the Olympics in Paris while also leading the U.S. to gold at the Pan American Games. In her two seasons with the Tigers, the junior has recorded 150 goals, earning CWPA Rookie of the Year, CWPA Player of the Year and two All-America nominations.

Other returners include Kate Mallery (50 points), Grace Houlahan (18 points), Shanna Davidson (58 points), Ava Houlahan (68 points), Olivia Krotts (26 points), Charlotte Riches (27 points) and Ally Lurie (28 points). CJ Weigel went 5-0 with a .613 save percentage as the backup goalie to Lucas.

The Class of 2028 features Margaret Brandin, Emese Batizi, Hadley Harbilas and Kendall Wyer.

Head coach Derek Ellingson's group is only behind UCLA, Stanford, USC, Cal., and Hawaii in the Varsity Poll. The Tigers won 23 games last season and won its second consecutive CWPA title. It marked only the second time in program history that the team had won back-to-back conference titles.

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