FRESNO, Calif. - The No. 9 Fresno State water polo team closes out its regular season slate this weekend at the Fresno State Aquatics Center. The Bulldogs will host No. 20 Pacific on Friday and Santa Clara on Saturday for Senior Day.
Friday's game is a rematch from the 2023 Golden Coast Conference championship game where the Bulldogs defeated UOP 5-3 in the lowest-scoring championship game in conference history.
No. 9 Fresno State (16-7, 4-1 GCC) vs Pacific (14-8, 3-2 GCC)
April 19, 2024 - 1 P.M. PT - Fresno, Calif. - Aquatics Center
Series History: Fresno State leads, 6-2
Last Meeting: FS def. UOP 5-3 in GCC Championship Game (April 30, 2023)
No. 9 Fresno State (16-7, 4-1 GCC) vs Santa Clara (6-19. 1-5 GCC)
April 20, 2024 - 1 P.M. PT - Fresno, Calif. - Aquatics Center
Series History: Fresno State leads, 5-1
Last Meeting: FS def. SC 17-4 on the road on April 22, 2023
MEDIA COVERAGE
Stream: MW Network
Live Stats:
vs Pacific (Friday)
vs Santa Clara (Saturday)
X (Twitter): @FresnoStateWP
Bulldog Bones
Fresno State will honor seniors Paula Nieto Jasny (GK), Kelly Villanueva (GK), Cynthia Rosa (Atk), Kaitlin Howarth (Atk) and Robyn Greenslade (C) before Saturday's game against Santa Clara.
Fresno State is on a two-game winning streak.
Fresno State returns home for the first time since March 28.
The Bulldogs wrap up regular season competition this weekend before heading to Santa Clara for the GCC Championship tournament next weekend.
Fresno State is in second place in the GCC standings entering this week
The Bulldogs dropped one spot to No. 9 in this week's CWPA team rankings.
The 'Dogs are the second-highest ranked GCC team behind LMU at No. 6 this week.
Fresno State is chasing its fourth-straight GCC championship title in 2024.
No. 2 in the pool, but No. 1 on the stat sheet
Sophomore attacker Hailey Andress leads the team in shots taken (145) and goals scored (62). She also leads the team with 42 steals.
Andress was the GCC Newcomer of the Year a season ago, playing an integral role as a true freshman in 2023. She continued her success this season, becoming the fifth player in program history to score 100 career goals. She became the fastest player to score 100 in their career.
The sophomore is just 10 goals away this season from tying the program's single season goal record at 72.
Andress was added to the Cutino Award watch list earlier this season, recognizing the top player in men's and women's water polo.
Speaking of single season records
Last week, the Bulldogs had two players break the single season steal record. Andress recorded five steals in the win at Azusa Pacific, putting her at 42 on the season for the new program record. Senior Abbey Simshauser picked up two steals at APU, bringing her season total to 41 to tie the previous record.
Andress and Simshauser are second and third in the conference in steals, respectively.
A perfect addition
Simshauser transferred into the program from Wagner College this season, and her addition was felt immediately. The senior leads the team in points behind 55 goals and 24 assists. She does it all for the 'Dogs with 33 drawn exclusions, 41 steals and 10 field blocks. Simshauser's addition to the offense added a bit of a change of pace from a season ago, allowing the Bulldogs to utilize different personnel in different ways.
A wall in the cage
The Bulldogs have been led defensively over the years by senior keeper Paula Nieto Jasny. After a five-year career, she owns each of Fresno State's goalkeeping records for numbers in a single game, season and career.
This season, she has started 18 games and totaled 550:12 minutes. Her overall record is 12-7. She has 155 saves while allowing 139 goals on the year. In the Bulldogs' game against then-No. 1 Stanford earlier this season, she scored her first career goal on a cross-pool lob.
A moment for the head coach
Fresno State head coach Natalie Benson has built the program from the ground up, hired as the programs first head coach in 2016 for its inaugural season in 2018.
Since then, Benson has compiled a 95-70 record for the program. She has been named the Golden Coast Conference Coach of the Year three times, and was recognized with the Sandy Nitta Distinguished Coaching National Award in 2022.
Hot start
Fresno State had a hot start to the 2024 season, winning six-straight to open the season. The Bulldogs opened the season with their first-ever win over Michigan, defeating the No. 13 team in the country 11-10 in Fresno on Jan. 20.
The Bulldogs have twice defeated the No. 1 team in the country this season. First, taking down Stanford 11-10 on Jan. 21. It was the first time in program history that the Bulldogs defeated the Cardinal. Fresno State then defeated USC at the Triton Invitational on Feb. 3. Fresno State became just the second school since water polo became an NCAA sport in 2001 to defeat both Stanford and USC in the same season. Second-ranked Hawai'i became the third with a win over both teams in 2024 as well.
Record book watch
A handful of players have put up the numbers to find themselves in the record book for single season numbers.
Goals - Hailey Andress (62) and Abbey Simshauser (55) have entered the Top 10 for single season scoring. Entering this week, Andress ranks second all-time as she surpassed her personal single season career-best of 52 goals scored a season ago. In her first season as a Bulldog, Simshauser enters this week's competition ranked fourth all-time, just one goal shy of the third place mark.
The program record for most goals scored by a player in a single season is 72 (Fanni Muzsnay, 2022).
Hat Tricks - Andress has 11 hat tricks on the season, enough for the second-most in a season in program history. Simshauser has nine, the third-most. Brooke Ochoa has eight on the year.
The program record for most hat tricks in a season is 12 (Fanni Muzsnay, 2022).
Assists - Ochoa enters this week with a team-leading 32 assists, the third-most in a season in program history. Ochoa herself has had 32 in her previous two seasons with the program. The program record for most assists in a single season is 41 (Claire Schade, 2019).
Steals - Andress and Simshauser set a new record and tied the previous one last time out as Andress enters this week with a program-record 42 steals and Simshauser adds 41.
Andress tied the single-game program record with six steals against Cal on March 28.
Exclusions Drawn - Ashley Williams has stepped up in center, recording 41 drawn exclusions this season. Williams sits with the sixth-most in a single season in program history. Emily Nicholson holds the program record with 110 in 2019.
Saves - Another year, and another major performance by Paula Nieto Jasny in the cage. Entering this week, she has 155 saves on the season. She already owns the program record with 216 saves, twice (2022, 2023). Her 155 saves this season are already the third-most in any season in program history.
Sprint Wins - Cynthia Rosa is the queen of the sprint. This season, she has a record of 63-6. Her 63 wins are the second-most in a season in program history behind only herself with 70 a season ago.