April 29, 2016 SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Tenth-ranked and fifth-seeded UC Davis rallied back from a 4-1 deficit to tie the contest early in the fourth quarter before four unanswered Rainbow Wahine goals resulted in a 10-6 setback to Hawai'i in the quarterfinal round of the Big West Conference women's water polo tournament at Campus Pool Friday afternoon.
The Aggies move to 17-12 overall. The 'Bows, ranked No. 8 nationally and seeded fourth in the championship, improve to 19-7 for the year.
Junior Hannah Harvey, senior Allyson Hansen, junior Bryn Lutz, junior Carla Tocchini, sophomore Greta Kohlmoos and sophomore Sammy Preston tallied goals for UC Davis. Hawai'i gained the bulk of its offense from two players: freshman Irene Gonzalez and junior Nikki-Marie Bell each netted four scores.
Harvey put the Aggies on the board midway through the first quarter with her skip shot, tying the game at 1-1. However, Gonzalez hit two goals in a 3-0 run to boost Hawai'i to a 4-1 lead. Hansen stopped the Wahine momentum with her goal from set to end the first, then drew an exclusion to start the second quarter. Lutz converted the power play, trimming the lead to 4-3. Bell scored on the next possession to push the UH lead back to two at the 6:56 mark.
Tocchini scored with 1:22 remaining to halve the deficit to a single goal at 5-4 but the 'Bows again answered, bringing their halftime lead to 6-4.
The UC Davis defense shut down Hawai'i for the entire third quarter, with senior goalkeeper Haley Cameron posting back-to-back blocks during a Wahine 6-on-5 opportunity. Kohlmoos then cut the lead to 6-5 with her back-handed shot with 2:12 left. The Aggies then equalized early in the fourth on Preston's perimeter shot, tying the game for the first time since Harvey's goal in the opening frame.
However, Bell scored three goals in a 4-0 Hawai'i run during the next four minutes. Gonzalez also delivered during that stretch to push the game â€" and the Big West semifinal â€" out of the Aggies' reach.
UC Davis will face either UC Santa Barbara or CSUN in Sunday's fifth-place game.
2016 BIG WEST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT, DAY 1
UC Santa Barbara Campus Pool • UC Davis games only.
| No. 10 UC Davis (17-12) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | 6 |
| No. 8 Hawai'i (19-7) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4 | - | 10 |
GOALS - UC DAVIS: Hannah Harvey 1, Allyson Hansen 1, Bryn Lutz 1, Carla Tocchini 1, Greta Kohlmoos 1, Sammy Preston 1. UH: Irene Gonzalez 4, Nikki-Marie Bell 4, Carla Abellan 1, Taylor Molde 1.
