Polo-rizers: Women’s Water Polo Kicks Off Their Season
Photo taken by Mōhailani Peloso
The Women’s Water Polo team commenced their season competing in the Bruno Classic.
The Women’s Water Polo team’s regular season opened on Saturday, Feb. 1 for the 2025 Bruno Classic, hosted by Brown University at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center.
The Pacific Women’s Water Polo team initiated the season against Villanova University with an assertive start by Alicia Petkov, who scored four goals in the first quarter. The second quarter started with a 5-2 lead but fell to 7-8 after a four-goal unanswered run by the Wildcats. Quarters three and four were neck-to-neck as the Tigers and Wildcats traded goals. Quarter four concluded with a 14-14 tie, resulting in two overtimes. With 1:22 left in the second overtime, Dora Alaksza scored a goal tipping the Tigers to a one-point lead against the Wildcats. The defensive end was extraordinary, ending the game with a 17-16 win over Villanova.
The second game of the day was against La Salle, marking Pacific and La Salle’s first matchup in National Collegiate Athletic Association history. Pacific gave an imposing first impression, finishing the first quarter with six goals. Tempers flared in the second quarter, with three exclusions committed by La Salle and two exclusions committed by Pacific. At the end of the second quarter, the Tigers led 8-5. Keeping the Explorers scoreless in the third quarter until the remaining 3:05 mark, the third quarter concluded 11-8 in favor of the Tigers. All three goals were scored by different players.
In the fourth quarter, senior Ilyana Zlobinsky scored at the 2:21 mark to advance the Tigers to a 15-10 lead on a 4-0 run. The run thrusted the Tigers forward with an untouchable lead, concluding the game with a 15-12 win for Pacific.
On Sunday, Feb. 2, the Women’s Water Polo team started bright and early, hitting the water at 6:15 AM (PT) on the East Coast versus Marist University. Senior Hila Futorian kicked off the match with the first goal at the 7:20 mark in the first quarter. Futorian scored another in the first quarter, alongside senior Sierra Cavano, redshirt sophomore Petkov, and sophomore Anna Crum for a 4-2 lead. The second quarter tallied five goals for Pacific and five goals for Marist. Pacific capitalized on this momentum, with a masterclass on both the offensive and defensive ends to secure four goals to none throughout the third quarter. Senior Addison McGowan scored the first goal in the fourth quarter to boost Pacific’s lead to 14-7. Marist’s final goal with 21 seconds left in the quarter was no match for the Tigers, resulting in a 15-10 win for Pacific.
The final match of the weekend was against Brown University. Futorian, once again, scored the first goal in the match. Continuously setting the tone of the game, Pacific rapidly escalated to a 4-1 lead following Futorian’s goal, by the end of the first quarter. The Tigers’ fierceness continued to multiply, as junior Alaksza delivered two goals in the second quarter, and then opened the third quarter with a goal. The fourth quarter opened up with a 10-7 lead in favor of Pacific, and that margin started to narrow as the quarter progressed. A goal by junior Ella Palmer of Brown University at 3:34 tied the game. The score remained at 10-10 for three minutes, until the final 37 seconds in the game. The shot heard around the world was scored by sophomore, Crum. This point gave the Tigers an 11-10 lead over the Bears, earning a clean 4-0 record over the course of the weekend.
Leading up to the preseason, on Jan. 1, the Tigers participated in a preseason exhibition match against Michigan University, hosted by Fresno State, at their Pollapalooza tournament. Led by junior Alaksza, a 2024 All-America Honorable Mention who scored four total goals, and senior McGowan who achieved a hat trick, the Tigers battledagainst the Wolverines. Although the Tigers eventually fell to a 10-21 final, the loss does not count against their official record since the game was an exhibition.
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