WHITTIER, Calif. (Mar. 11, 2026) – Junior
Madison Mathewson (Hayward, Calif. / Moreau Catholic) of the Whittier College women's water polo team opened scoring, and the Poets seldom looked back in a strong 8-5 victory of the University of Redlands on Wednesday night.
The game took on a defensive tone from the onset, with both teams only able to muster one goal through the game's first eight minutes. Junior transfer Mathewson went 2-0 on sprints, and got the Poets on the board early off a nice feed from senior
Paula Fernandez (Barcelona, Spain / Westcliff University) on the powerplay. However, it would be nearly 15 in-game minutes before the Poets' next goal with the attention turning to junior goalie
Aubrie Kirkby Tatro (San Luis Obispo, Calif. / Arroyo Grande) and the Poets defense.
Kirkby Tatro responded with one of her best games of the year, stifling the Redlands offense to the tune of 13 saves, nine of which came during the 2-1 first half in favor of the Poets. Classmate
Kayla Arias (Brea, Calif. / Brea Olinda / Fullerton College), the Poets' star center, delivered from short range in front of the Bulldogs' net and finished the game with a team-high six drawn exclusions.
From there, the Poets' offensive execution began to ramp up. Mathewson scored the Poets' first goal of the second half, increasing the home team's lead to two. It didn't take long after that for Hernandez to find her scoring touch, finding the back of the net four times from four different spots in the pool. She finished the game with a team-high four goals and three assists, while Mathewson picked up the hat trick to go with a singular assist. Together, the two players accounted for seven of the Poets' nine goals on the night, and while the defensive effort remained high from players such as
Giana Diaz (La Puente, Calif. / Los Altos) along with Arias, Kirkby Tatro only needed to stop four shots in the second half to earn her second SCIAC win in net for the Poets this season. She also picked up two steals, both of which came in the first quarter.
Whittier is now 2-1 at home this year against SCIAC foes.
Head Coach
Preslav Djippov and the Poets will head to San Diego State for the Aztec Invitational on Friday before returning to SCIAC play on Saturday at California Lutheran University.
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