Savanah Phillips - Women's Water Polo Coach - Princeton University Athletics

Savanah Phillips

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
phillipss@princeton.edu

Savanah Phillips is now in her fourth season with Princeton in the fall of 2024.

The Princeton Men’s Water Polo team set a program record with 28 wins in 2023 as the Tigers won its third straight NWPC title and reached the NCAA Semifinals for the first time ever under the expanded format of the NCAA bracket. The Tigers had three All-Americans highlighted by Roko Pozaric’s first-team honors. He became the first Tiger to ever earn first-team All-America status and was also a Cutino Award finalist.

Princeton also set a new program mark with 471 goals and was the first CWPA team to win three straight conference crowns since Navy from 2006-08.

The women’s water polo squad went undefeated in CWPA play in 2024 en route to its second straight conference title and was just the second time the Tigers have won in back-to-back years.

Kayla Yelensky was second-team All-America after producing a career-high 69 goals, 23 assists along with 47 drawn ejections and 31 steals. Lindsey Lucas was honorable mention All-America as she became just the third player in program history to be named CWPA Player of the Year. She went 18-7 this season with a .543 save percentage and 245 saves, adding 23 steals.

In the spring of 2023, the women's team won its conference title for the first time since 2015 with a 12-8 victory over Harvard. The Tigers finished 30-4 overall becoming just the third team in program history record at least 30 victories (2014, 2015). 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 Tigers also had four All-Americans for the first time in Princeton history.

The men's 2022 season saw the men’s team set program records with four All-Americans. It was also the first time that the program had reached the NCAA Quarterfinals in consecutive years following its victory over Fordham. The team's historical season included highlights such as defeating Stanford for the first time in program history and becoming NWPC Conference Champions for the second straight season.

Princeton's men's team defeated Brown and then St. Francis-Brooklyn to earn the 2021 Northeast Water Polo Conference title, collecting the team's sixth conference crown. The Tigers had 11 wins against nationally ranked opponents include a California trip that featured three straight victories over No. 17 Loyola Marymount, No. 10 Pepperdine, and No. 13 UC Irvine. The women's squad went 21-10 in 2022, placing third in the CWPA. The Tigers recorded eight wins over top-25 teams and posted at least 20 victories for the fourth straight full season.

Phillips came from Wittenberg University where she was part of the first varsity water polo team in the state of Ohio. She earned two all-conference and All-Academic honors while also earning All-America honors in 2019. The two-time captain graduated with a bachelors’ degree in the Sport and Business Management.

Philips also spent time at San Diego Mesa College where she secured two MVP and all-conference honors before transferring to Wittenberg.

The Princeton assistant coach started her coaching career at East County Aquatics, coaching all ages from 10u-18u. She also spent time coaching at Grossmont and Serra High Schools.