May 23, 2006
DAVIS, Calif. - Head women's water polo coach Jamey Wright has signed Corona del Mar High School's Ashley Chandler and Sierra College's Madeline Stephenson to national letters of intent during the spring signing period, it was announced recently. The two prospective student-athletes are expected to enroll at UC Davis in the 2006 fall quarter.
Chandler, a Newport Beach native, helped Corona del Mar High School to four-straight CIF Division II Southern Section titles in addition to four Pacific Coast League titles under the tutelage of coach Aaron Chaney.
Chandler earned first-team All-CIF and All-Pacific Coast League honors and also earned spots on the Southern California Water Polo Coaches' Association first-team and the All-County second team following this season. Chandler has also been named to the Los Angeles Times "Dream Team".
A six-foot tall center defender, Chandler was a member of the Southern Pacific Zone team in 2005 and also holds Corona del Mar's 50-yard freestyle record in swimming with a mark of 24.2 seconds.
Stephenson, a six-foot tall utility player, will be joining the Aggies after a two-year stint at Sierra College where she helped lead the Wolverines to a Big 7 conference title as well as a third place finish at the State Tournament this past fall. For her efforts, Stephenson earned a place on the All-State Tournament team in addition to All-Big 7 and All-Nor Cal honors.
In her freshman season at Sierra, Stephenson helped the Wolverines win the Northern California Championship as well as place fourth at States for which she earned her first All-State Tournament team honor.
Stephenson also earned All-American honors in three events while competing for the Sierra College swim team which won the Bay Valley Conference Championships in 2005.
Stephenson hails from Roseville, Calif and was a three-sport athlete at Roseville High School where she lettered in water polo, basketball and swimming all four years of her prep career.
Chandler and Stephenson join Heidi Kucera (Menlo-Atherton HS, Atherton, Calif.), Dana Nelsen (University City HS, San Diego, Calif.) and Laura Uribe (Chaffey College, Rancho Cucamunga, Calif.) who all signed national letters of intent with UC Davis during the fall signing period.
The Aggie women's water polo team had a banner year as they finished the season with a fifth place finish at the NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship which was hosted at UC Davis' own Schaal Aquatics Center. UC Davis received its first-ever berth into the national tournament when it upset Loyola Marymount to claim the Western Water Polo Association conference title in late April.
UC Davis finished the season with a 22-12 record, making it the eighth consecutive season that the Aggies have finished with 20 or more wins and 2006 marked their tenth consecutive winning season.
