SEASIDE, Calif. – The Cal State Monterey Bay women's water polo team finished out the weekend with a 9-7 win over Whittier College at the Posada Royale Tournament hosted by Cal Lutheran, after dropping a close 13-12 match to Occidental.

“We had moments where things clicked and we played as a team,” says Head Coach Gary Figueroa. “We need to improve on our consistency and our passion for defense.”

Senior Nikki Smart (Clovis/Buchanan HS) led the way this weekend as the Otters top scorer, finishing with 26 goals in three days. This bringings her season total to 68 goals respectively.

Game 1
The Otters gave up seven goals in the first eight minutes of play with the Tigers. CSUMB's defensive picked up in the second half only allowing a total of three goals. The Otters would fall just short after tying the final minutes to drop to Occidental by one point.

Junior goalie Paige Robinson (San Jose/Lynbrook HS) saw two quarters of playing time in the cage leading the Otters with four saves, Hart and Jennings each added one.

CSUMB     4 – 3 – 3 – 2 = 12
OXY        7 – 3 – 1 – 2 = 13

CSUMB GOALS: Smart 4, Sowul 3, Tyrrell 3, Walters 2
CSUMB SAVES: Robinson 4, Hart 1, Jennings 1
 
Game 2
CSUMB had a slow start remaining scoreless after the first quarter. Robinson stepped up in goal tallying four blocks to help push the Otters to offense and take a 4-3 lead at half. With the 9-7 victory over Whittier, the Otters left Southern California with a 4-2 winning record.

CSUMB     0 – 4 – 3 – 2 = 9
Whittier    1 – 2 – 4 – 0 = 7

CSUMB GOALS: Walters 3, Sowul 2, Smart 2, Tyrrell 1, Cooper 1
CSUMB SAVES: Robinson 4, Hart 2, Jennings 1

The Otter water polo team will visit WWPA conference foe Cal State East Bay on Saturday, March 10 for a single day game, set for a noon start time.