Women's water polo falls to Sagehens at home

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women's water polo team dropped a 12-6 decision to No. 1-ranked Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday at the Allred Aquatics Center. The loss dropped the Panthers into fifth-place in SCIAC standings while allowing the Sagehens to move into a three-way tie for first-place with Whittier College and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

Pomona-Pitzer (10-9 overall, 2-0 SCIAC) opened up the first quarter on a 4-0 run to take an early lead. Chapman battled back with goals by seniors Riley Ford and Emily Holmquist but the Panthers ended the first quarter trailing 6-2.

The Panthers and Sagehens went shot-for-shot in the second quarter with each team scoring a pair of goals. Chapman ended the first half trailing Pomona-Pitzer 8-6. While Sagehen's senior Alyssa Woodward recorded three goals in the first half for Pomona.

Pomona brought a high energy offense into the third quarter scoring a pair of goals less than a minute a part in the first three minutes of the half. Sagehens GK sophomore Ahsha Earwood held the Panthers scoreless in the third quarter and led Pomona's defense completing the match with 15 blocks respectively.

Chapman battled back with a pair of goals in the final quarter, one by junior Kate Staskus and another by Holquist, but back-to-back goals by Woodward allowed the Sagehens to hold their lead 12-6. Holmquist finished the match with a team-high of three goals.  

The Panthers (9-12 overall, 1-2 SCIAC) will travel to Occidental (1-17 overall, 0-1 SCIAC) for a conference match on Wednesday, April 1 at 4 p.m. Chapman then returns home to Allred Pool on Saturday, April 4 at 11 a.m. for a SCIAC match with University of La Verne (3-9 overall, 1-1 SCIAC).

by Raquel Rinauro
Sports Information Assistant

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