DAVIS, Calif. - UC Davis women's water polo opens the 2023 season at the Cal Cup hosted by UC Berkeley at the Legends Aquatic Center. The Aggies will play four games in the season-opening tournament, facing Fresno State and UCLA on Saturday before taking on San Jose State and Cal on Sunday.

All games will feature live stats and the Aggies' final game of the weekend will be streamed here.

2022 RECAP
The Aggies posted an overall record of 16-12 (3-3 Big West) a season ago to finish third in the Big West Conference. In the postseason conference tournament, UC Davis narrowly fell to UC San Diego in the first round.

With a very challenging 2022 schedule, the Aggies defeated eight ranked opponents including two victories against teams ranked inside the top 15. Following a successful campaign, UC Davis concluded the season ranked 12^th in the nation by the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA).

PRESEASON ACCOLADES
UC Davis was picked to finished fourth in the preseason coaches' poll, receiving 28 total points. Defending champions, Hawai'i, topped the poll with 47 points and five first-place votes. Last season's success received national recognition as the Aggies were ranked 12^th in the recent ACWPA preseason national poll.

Senior center Noelle Wijnbelt was selected to the 2023 Big West Women's Water Polo Preseason Coaches' team. Wijnbelt earned All-Big West First Team honors for the third straight season after her excellent 2022 campaign. She went on to receive her fourth career ACWPA All-America recognition following her junior season.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
Fresno State – The Bulldogs have already played four games and suffered four straight defeats to open their 2023 campaign. Fresno State comes into the 2023 season as the 8^th ranked team in the nation following its solid 2022 campaign that concluded with a 19-8 overall record and perfect 7-0 record in the Golden Coast Conference. The Bulldogs are the reigning GCC champions but fell to #2 USC in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Last season, Fresno State came away with the 10-6 win over UC Davis.

UCLA – The fourth-ranked Bruins bring a perfect 5-0 record into this weekend's tournament, with all those wins coming over ranked opponents. UCLA boasted an impressive 24-6 overall record a season ago before being knocked off by #1 Stanford in the semifinal round of the NCAA Championships. The Aggies dropped last season's contest 11-6 when the Bruins were the top ranked team in the country.

San Jose State – The Spartans are also coming off a weekend of games against ranked opponents and posted a 2-1 record over the three contests. SJSU struggled in 2022 and finished below .500 (11-16) and were unable to manage a single conference victory (0-6). UC Davis notched an exciting 14-13 overtime win over the Spartans in the 2022 Cal Cup.

Cal – The hosts come into their tournament with three wins under their belt. Cal is ranked third by CPWA and carry some much-needed depth for its 2023 title charge. The Golden Bears finished 17-6 last season before being topped by #2 USC in the semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament. UC Davis suffered a 9-4 defeat to Cal at last year's Stanford invite.
 
WELCOME COACH WALDTHALER
After serving on the UC Davis women's water polo coaching staff for 12 seasons, Kandace Waldthaler was selected as the Coach Jamey Wright and Hodgens Family Director of Women's Water Polo. She spent the first seven seasons as an assistant coach and the last five as associate head coach. She has been instrumental in cementing the inclusive and high-performance culture the program has enjoyed under Wright. Most recently, Waldthaler joined the national team staff as an assistant coach for the Senior National "B" Team. 

The Aggies have enjoyed eight winning seasons, 19 ACWPC All-America recognitions, and 41 All-Big West honors during Waldthaler's time at UC Davis. The team has seen multiple ACWPA All-Academic honorees in every year of her tenure, including eight or more five times (2012, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2021) with two team (2012, 2018) awards.