Argelia Diaz and Alyssa Welfringer pose for a photo.
Argelia Diaz and Alyssa Welfringer

Women’s water polo defeats Caltech on senior day

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women's water polo team rolled past the visiting Caltech Beavers 11-6 in their final match of the 2019 season. Seniors Alyssa Welfringer and Argelia Diaz were honored prior to the match as they jumped in the pool for the last time in a Panther uniform.

The Panthers struck first as sophomore Emily Whitney found the back of the net less than three minutes into the first quarter. Fellow sophomore Audrey Hattori added another goal less than two minutes later to give Chapman a 2-0 lead heading into the second quarter.

Junior Roisin Cunningham Smythe tallied the Panthers' third goal with 4:04 left to play in the second quarter. Hattori scored her second goal of the match less than a minute later to give Chapman a 4-0 lead with three minutes left to play in the half. Junior Alissa Caltagirone added to the Panthers' lead, scoring with just over two minutes left to give Chapman a 5-0 lead heading into haltime. Welfringer kept the Beavers scoreless through the first 16 minutes of play.

Hattori struck fast after the opening whistle for the second half, scoring just 37 second in to extend the Panthers' lead even further. Caltech responded two minutes later with its first goal of the match.

Cunningham Smythe answered with her second goal of the match at the 4:50 mark, followed by Whitney's second goal over a minute and a half later. Sophomore Paige Gurich and freshman Charlene Ma scored the final two goals of the third quarter to give Chapman a nine-goal lead heading into the final quarter of play.

Welfringer and Diaz switched places in the fourth quarter, with Diaz between the pipes and Welfringer on the attack. The Beavers struck fast, scoring their second goal in the first minute of the quarter. They scored two more to cut the deficit to six goals before Welfringer went back in the cage with just over five minutes on the clock.

Whitney scored her third goal of the match with just over four minutes left to play, followed by a Caltech goal with just over a minute left to finish out the match.

Welfringer tallied three steals, moving up to third all-time in single-season history with 76 total steals this season. She also tallied 14 blocks in the winning effort. Diaz tallied three steals and an assists in her final match in the Panther uniform.

by Katie Bell
Sports Information Assistant

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