April 30, 2006

LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC Davis women's water polo team captured its second Western Water Polo Association title by upsetting the conference tournament's No. 1 seed Loyola Marymount 8-7 in Sunday afternoon's championship match. With the win, the Aggies receive an automatic berth to the 2006 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championships being held at UC Davis' own Schaal Aquatics Center on May 12-14. Junior Cassie Schaefer led UC Davis in the victory with four points, three of which were scored in the first quarter alone and junior Katherine O'Rourke scored the game winner and was named the WWPA Most Valuable Player.

Christi Raycraft and Jessica Soza received Second Team All-Tournament honors, O'Rourke received first-team accolades. With the win, UC Davis' season record is lifted to 20-11 and the conference record for the year is 13-3.

Loyola Marymount was the first to strike early in the first quarter as Christine Robinson put away a Lion goal following an Aggie exclusion. Less than a minute later, the Aggies returned the favor as Schaefer scored her first point of the game on a six-on-five opportunity. Schaefer repeated with another man-up goal with two minutes and 53 seconds left in the quarter, gaining UC Davis' first lead of the game. The Lions' Nicole Hughes tied things up again during the next possession. With only 22 seconds left to play in the first quarter, Schaefer scored her third of the game to grab a hat trick for the quarter and regain the Aggie lead at 3-2.

Loyola Marymount tied the game for the third time at the beginning of the second quarter with a goal from Katie Hicks. With three minutes and 20 seconds left in the first half, Robinson gained the lead for the Lions at 4-3. A little over a minute later, Casie Mota once again tied the game up at 4-4 with a man-up goal for UC Davis.

It took several minutes before either team scored in the second half, but Nicole Fisher regained the UC Davis lead and Schaefer added her fourth of the game to put the score at 6-4. Sarah Hamilton brought the Lions within one-point again as both teams headed into the final quarter.

The game was tied up again at the beginning of the fourth as Hughes posted her second goal of the game. Mary Lowe and Hughes traded a pair of goals late in the fourth and with only one minute and 47 seconds left to play, the score was tied at 7-7. With 57 seconds left on the clock, Katherine O'Rourke posted what would be the game winning goal. The Lion's final shot went wide and the Aggies came away with the 8-7 win and the WWPA conference title.

The last time the Aggies won a WWPA title was at the conference's first championship in 1999.

"To upset a great team like that you need things to break your way. The team played great defense and we got some help from unexpected sources. Cassie Schaefer just had a career day. She has played really well for us, but for this season, this was by far her best game. Amber played the whole game and played great in the goal. Katherine (O'Rourke) had the game winner and Jessica Soza had a great field block at the end of the game. To finally win one of these close ones, it's indescribable," said head coach Jamey Wright of the win.

"Being able to play NCAA's at our own pool, I couldn't script it better. There are going to be great teams there, we are going to have our hands full. I think it is fun for the girls though to be able to play at their home pool, it is really exciting," said Wright.

UC Davis will join Stanford, Hartwick, Marist and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at the 2006 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championships. Each team won their respective conference championships to earn one of the five automatic berths into the tournament. The remaining three bids into the tournament will be announced on Monday, May 1 in a selection show that will air on CSTV at 5 p.m.

Western Water Polo Association Conference Championships
Championship Game:
UC Davis 8, Loyola Marymount 7

                    1     2     3     4   FinalUC Davis            3     1     2     2     8Loyola Marymount    2     2     1     2     7

UC Davis Goals: Cassie Schaefer 4, Casie Mota 1, Nicole Fisher 1, Katherine O'Rourke 1, Mary Lowe 1.
Loyola Marymount Goals: Nicole Hughes 3, Christine Robinson 2, Katie Hicks 1, Sarah Hamilton 1.