WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson women's water polo team earned a pair of wins Sunday to complete a 4-0 weekend in CWPA Division III play at W&J.
The 4-0 start is the best for W&J in conference play since 2017, a year in which they reached the CWPA Division III Championship match.
Game 1 – W&J 13, Utica 3
W&J gained an early lead and rolled to a 13-3 win over visiting Utica. The victory gave W&J its first 3-0 start in conference play since 2017.
Kimber Randolph (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) led W&J with three goals and three assists in the victory.
Jillian Curtis (Woodland Hills, Calif./El Camino Real Charter) recorded a five-point effort with two goals and three assists against the Pioneers.
Marcella Gallardo-Russell (Santa Cruz, Calif./Santa Cruz) registered her first collegiate hat trick.
First-years
Mekkiye Ergun (Chicago, Ill./Lake View) and
Vanessa Gonzalez (La Verne, Calif./Bonita) tallied two goals apiece while
Anastacia Didovich (Venice, Fla./Venice) added a score.
Felicia Filippini (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg) recorded five saves and
Alliey Cunningham (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Township) finished with four stops as the pairing combined for a strong performance.
Game 2 – W&J 14, Grove City 12
The teams were tied at 3-3 after a quarter of play. W&J scored six of the nine second quarter goals to take a 9-6 advantage into halftime. The Presidents tallied the final three goals of the second quarter, as
Sydney Neumann (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan),
Ryley McClellan (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) and Didovich registered the scores to give W&J the halftime edge.
W&J continued to hold the lead throughout the third quarter and stretched the lead to as many as five (14-9) when Gallardo-Russell found the back of the net with 4:41 to play in the fourth.
Grove City tallied the final three goals but fell by a 14-12 score to W&J.
Neumann scored a team-high four goals and added two assists in the win over the Wolverines. McClellan posted three goals and three assists as a catalyst for the offense.
Megan DePrez (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) added two goals and an assist. Gallardo-Russell continued a productive day, as she added a pair of assists to go with her goal.
Cecelia Weiss (Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) made 10 saves in net for the Presidents.
W&J is 4-0 in conference play and 4-3 overall. They head west to take on Cal Tech and California Lutheran on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
