WHITTIER, Calif. (Mar. 8, 2025) – Led by a dominant offensive effort from sophomore center
Kayla Arias (Brea, Calif. / Brea Olinda / Fullerton College), the Whittier College women's water polo team overpowered the University of Redlands on the road, 14-10, en route to their first SCIAC win of the season.
Arias, along with fellow newcomer
Paula Fernandez (Barcelona, Spain / Westcliff University), dominated Whittier's offensive output with a combined 12 points, with several other key contributions coming from up and down the Poets' lineup. Senior
Haley Kivett (Beaverton, Ore. / Southridge) got the Poets on the board early, making good on a successful attempt on the powerplay. While it would be Kivett's only goal of the game, she also led the Purple & Gold with four assists, setting up Whittier's top goalscorers time and time again.
While Whittier took a 5-3 lead early, scoring four of the first give goals of the game, The Poets' most dominant period came in the second when they held Redlands to just one goal. Goalkeeper
Candace Tezak was instrumental in these efforts, playing the entire game while holding Redlands with 14 saves against 24 shots. From a technical standpoint, Whittier enjoyed its most efficient game of the season, with newcomer
Mya Rodriguez (Visalia, Calif. / El Diamante / College of the Sequoias) registering her first two goals of the season from the field.
Whittier did have some adversity to overcome late in the game. Junior
Alexandra Haluska (Brea, Calif. / Brea Olinda / Fullerton College), who left the game with two goals and an assist, picked up three exclusions in the second half, forcing Whtitier to play "Iron Woman" (without subs) for the remainder of the game. Even still, the Poets limited the Bulldogs to a 5-6 second half that fell well short of a successful comeback.
Head Coach Preslav Djippov and the Poets will look to replicate some of their success from this past week when they open the week against Virginia Military Institute on Monday, Mar. 11 at 5 p.m.
Follow and show support for your Whittier Poets on Twitter (@WCPoets), YouTube and Instagram (@PoetAthletics)!
