DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis women's water polo continues its season from Friday, Jan. 30, to Sunday, Feb. 1, at the Triton Invitational. The Aggies open the tournament against UC San Diego on Friday at 5:20 p.m. PT. 

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN/FOLLOW
Jan. 30  — at UC San Diego | Live Stats | @ucdaviswwp (X/Instagram)

GAME NOTES

• Last Time Out: The Aggies are 3-3 on the season after earning an upset 11-8 victory over No. 12 San Jose State last Saturday, before falling to No. 6 Long Beach State (6-15), and No. 9 Fresno State (9-13) on Sunday.
• Top Goal Scorers: Coming off a six goal performance to lead the Aggies in the victory over San Jose State at the Brigitte Donner Daws Memorial Invitational, redshirt senior Gianna Nocetti paces the team with 13 goals this season. Junior Chelsea Johnson ranks second on the squad with nine goals, including a two goal effort against Long Beach State. 
• Big West Awards: Nocetti earned the first Big West Player of the Week honor of her career following a standout weekend in which she secured seven sprint wins. On the season, she is 12–5 in sprints for a .706 sprint percentage and ranks seventh in the Big West in goals, fifth in points, and second in both sprint wins and sprint percentage. Nationally, she ranks fifth in both sprint wins and sprint percentage.
• Preseason Big West Honors: Junior Bridget Miller comes into the season being awarded a spot on the 2026 Big West Preseason Team. Miller was an All-Big West Second Team honoree a year ago, and enters her third season in the blue and gold after scoring 47 goals and eight assists for 55 points, leading the Aggies in total goals scored. As a sophomore, she scored eight hat tricks, including going for a career-high four goals three separate times.
• 2025 Recap: UC Davis finished the 2025 season 13-15 with a fifth place finish in the Big West Conference. The Aggies fell to UC San Diego in the Big West Quarterfinals.
• 2025 Poll: The Aggies were picked tied for fourth in the Big West preseason poll, receiving 28 points.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS

• UC San Diego enters the weekend 4-1, suffering its first loss of the season to Arizona State last weekend at the Malmsten Invitational. 
• The Tritons are led offensively by junior Abigail Schechter, recording 17 goals while shooting .708 on the season.
• In goal, UC San Diego is anchored by senior Bria Zwaschka, tallying 46 saves and eight steals.
• UC Davis faced the Tritons three times during the 2025 season, but was unable to come away with a win. 
• Following Friday's match, UC Davis will play either the winner or loser of USC vs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday morning. The team is guaranteed to play at least two matches on Saturday and one on Sunday to determine their place in the 16 team tournament.

SEASON NOTES

• UC Davis is led by Jamey Wright and Hodgens Family Director of Women's Water Polo Kandace Waldthaler, who enters her fourth season as head coach and 15th season overall on staff.
• Returning for her third season is former Aggie and current assistant coach Dakotah Sturla.
• The Aggies return a strong core of returning players. Coming off an appearance at the 2025 World Aquatics U20 Water Polo Championships, Chelsea Johnson enters year three looking to use her international experience to elevate the Aggies to new heights. After leading the offense a year ago, Bridget Miller also enters her third season for the team, being selected to the preseason All-Big West Team.
• Despite the departure of all-time assist leader Kelly Hungerford, UC Davis brings in a strong recruiting class, with Hanalora Abel, Adi Englebert, Megan Garner, Audrey Quilala, and Sydney Rubin joining the Aggies.
• With the team joining the Golden Coast Conference in 2027, this season will mark the last in the Big West for the Aggies.

ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS: 
UC Davis, the No. 2 ranked public university by the Wall Street Journal, is home to 40,000 undergraduate students and 12,000 employees. Ranked No. 1 in Agriculture and Forestry as well as No. 1 in Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis is located in a true California college town nestled between world-class destinations such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. Over 650 Aggie student-athletes compete in 25 Division I varsity sports, with 16 sports transitioning to the Mountain West Conference beginning in 2026–27. 

For more information, visit https://ucdavisaggies.com/.