WHITTIER, Calif. (Mar. 1, 2024) – The Whittier College women's water polo team continued an intense early season schedule with a pair of games at the annual Convergence Tournament against a pair of teams representing higher NCAA divisions. This year, 2024, marked the first time the Poets have hosted games at the Convergence, which has fast become one of the biggest intercollegiate water polo tournament nationwide.
Game 1: Cal Baptist 14, Whittier 7
The Poets first pressed their luck against Cal Baptist, a tricky Division I foe. However, Whittier matched its opponents' energy at different points of the game, and embarked on a late game surge to reach seven goals for the game. In her return from injury, sophomore goalie
Candace Tezak (La Habra, Calif. / La Habra) stood tall in net with six big saves that helped spark a 4-3 fourth quarter for the Purple & Gold. Four different Poets dented the twine during that final stretch, but senior
Jaycee Morris (Lake Elsinore, Calif. / Temescal Canyon) had more offensive moments than any Poet with three goals to go with eight shots. The former SCIAC Defensive Athlete of the Week also drew one exclusion.
Junior
Margarita Moreno (Hacienda Heights, Calif. / Los Altos) was the Poets' other major offensive standout, scoring two goals in addition to standing out as one of six different Poets to record an assist. Two Poets that met this criteria are
Alexandra Haluska (Brea, Calif. / Brea Olinda) and
Chloe Gardhouse (Agoura Hills, Calif. / Agoura), who potted one goal apiece to go with their assists. Though Whittier faced plenty of adversity through the majority of the contest, the team's ability to rally would serve them well later in the day, and will be sure to serve them well when the SCIAC schedule ramps up in the weeks to come this March.
Game 2: Cal State Monterey Bay 8, Whittier 4
Whittier's tenacity paired well with their attention to detail on defense, which translated to the Poets playing in their lowest scoring game of the season overall against California State University, Monterey Bay. Through the first three quarters, Whittier held Monterey Bay to just five goals, and trailed by just two. However, the Poets took a big step toward reversing their fortunes early in the final period, when Moreno delivered a beautiful finesse shot that cleared the Monterey Bay goalie, crossing over the goal line for Whittier's fourth tally of the night.
Moreno was one of several Poets to deliver offensively in the face of one of the most physical games of the day. Morris, the Poets' leading scorer against Cal Baptist, delivered once again, this time with two goals in a more grueling affair. The first of those goals opened the game, coming less than a minute into the contest to bring the home fans to their feet. The second goal came in the second quarter on a powerplay, and she did not have the Poets' only powerplay goal of the day. Haluska continued her scoring streak by converting on the powerplay knot the game at three goals apiece after her side trailed the visitors, 3-2, at halftime. A few unlucky breaks undermined the Poets down the stretch, but they can hold their head high knowing they held the Otters to their lowest total in a win so far this season.
Head Coach Preslav Djippov and the Poets will return on Saturday, Mar. 2, when they continue to host Convergence games throughout the day. They will first play Villanova University, followed by McKendree University later in the day.
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