SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Jan. 20, 2023) – The Whittier College women's water polo team opened the 2024 regular season with a pair of games at the UCSB Winter Invite. Both games were contested at Santa Barbara High School.

The Poets, in the debut of new coach Preslav Djippov, put up a trio of goals against both Marist College and tournament host University of California, Santa Barbara, two Division I programs. The invite gave Djippov's young roster a chance to test themselves against legitimate competition well in advance of their first SCIAC contest, which is scheduled for Wednesday, Mar. 6 at the University of La Verne.

On the day, four different players found the back of the net for the Poets. Among them, Alexandra Haluska, a sophomore transfer from Fullerton College. Haluska scored 25 goals and 13 assists for Fullerton in 32 games as a freshman, and got her Whittier career off on the right foot with three goals between the two games. Other goal scorers for Whittier included junior Charlotte Umstead, senior Jaycee Morris, and newcomer Miranda Alvarez.

Talented junior utility Haley Kivett also landed on the scoresheet with an assist in the UC Santa Barbara game, while sophomore Chloe Gardhouse assisted in the Marist game. Goalie Candace Tezak handled all of the goalkeeping for the Poets on the day, stopping three shots in each contest.   

Djippov and the Poets will return to the Winter Invite tomorrow, Sunday, Jan. 21, where they will face off with the likes of Ottawa University Arizona in the morning and the University of California, San Diego in the afternoon.

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