FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State water polo team looks to continue its historic season this weekend at the 2024 NCAA Women's Water Polo National Championship, hosted by Cal at the Spieker Aquatics Center in Berkeley, Calif. from May 10-12.
Fresno State opens the tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against the host team Cal on Friday at 6 p.m. PT.
QUARTERFINAL INFO
Fresno State (21-7) vs. No. 3 Cal (17-6)
Friday, May 10, 2024 - 6 P.M. PT - Berkeley, Calif.
Live Stats: 6-8 Sports
Stream: NCAA.com
Twitter: @FresnoStateWP
Series History: Cal leads, 9-0
Last Meeting: Cal def. FS 10-6 in Fresno on March 28, 2024
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
THE BRACKET
Opening Round | Wednesday, May 8
Game 1 | 5:00 PM PT: Biola vs. Wagner
Quarterfinals | Friday, May 10
Game 1 | 12:00 PM PT: #1 UCLA vs. Wagner
Game 2 | 2:00 PM PT: #4 Stanford vs. USC
Game 3 | 4:00 PM PT: #2 Hawaii vs. Princeton
Game 4 | 6:00 PM PT: #3 California vs. Fresno State
Semifinals | Saturday, May 11
Game 5 | 2:00 PM PT: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
Game 6 | 4:00 PM PT:
Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4
Championship | Sunday, May 12
Game 7 | 7:00 PM PT: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6
Bulldog Bones
Fresno State automatically qualified for the NCAA women's water polo championship for the fourth straight season, winning the Golden Coast Conference title each year to advance.
Fresno State has won a single-season program-best 21 games so far this season.
Fresno State looks to advance past the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time in program history.
Fresno State has not had a double-digit losing season since 2019.
Fresno State is riding a seven game winning streak into the tournament.
Fresno State head coach Natalie Benson earned her 100th win as Fresno State head coach with the Bulldogs' 13-12 overtime victory over LMU in the GCC Championship game. Benson has a 100-70 record as the Bulldogs' head coach, coaching since the inaugural season in 2018.
Benson was named the GCC Coach of the Year for the fourth year in a row.
The Bulldogs had six players earn All-Conference recognitions in 2024 as Hailey Andress, Abbey Simshauser and Paula Nieto Jasny were first team selections, Brooke Ochoa was a second team, and Cynthia Rosa earned honorable mention. Caitlyn Mossman was an all-freshman team honoree.
Ochoa was named the 2024 GCC tournament MVP, her second straight tournament MVP honor. Nieto Jasny and Simshauser also took home all-tournament team honors.
NCAA tournament flashback
Fresno State has yet to advance past the quarterfinals of the NCAA championship in each of its trips to the tournament. The Bulldogs' only win at an NCAA championship event was defeating Cal Lutheran in the play-in round of the 2021 tournament.
The Bulldogs fell to USC in the quarterfinals in both the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Stanford, USC and UCLA are the only three teams to win a national championship title in women's collegiate water polo history (since 2001).
Of the eight other teams in the 2024 tournament, the Bulldogs have defeated four already this season, and have faced seven.
A year of many "firsts"
Despite not having advanced past the quarterfinals, this 2024 squad is one that hasn't let anything stop them this season.
Fresno State started the season off strong, winning six in-a-row. In those six wins were five ranked opponents including the No. 1 team in Stanford. It was the first time the program defeated the nation's No. 1 team, and the first time the Bulldogs defeated Stanford in program history.
Two weeks later, the Bulldogs would again defeat the nation's No. 1 team, this time in USC. The win on Feb. 3 was the first time the Bulldogs defeated USC in program history. Before defeating USC at the Triton Invite, the 'Dogs defeated UC Irvine – the first win in the series for the Bulldogs.
With a record of 8-3, and having defeated seven ranked teams in that span, the Bulldogs earned themselves the highest national team ranking in program history, checking in at No. 3.
Fresno State became the first Golden Coast Conference team to ever knock off a top-ranked team.
The Bulldogs also earned the highest-ever national ranking by a GCC program at No. 3 this season.
The best of the best
The success the program has had in its brief time as a Fresno State sport can be largely attributed to the efforts of head coach Natalie Benson. Coming in as the program's head coach in its inaugural season (2018), Benson has gotten Fresno State into the national spotlight conversation in just seven seasons.
She has been named the Golden Coast Conference Coach of the Year four times in her career (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024). Those four years, she led the Bulldogs to a GCC title and NCAA championship berth.
Benson earned her 100th win with the Bulldogs' overtime victory over LMU in the 2024 GCC Championship game. In her time as Bulldog head coach, she has compiled a 100-70 record.
The MVP!
Fresno State junior utility player Brooke Ochoa
was seen in a new role this season as opposed to last. Coming off of a GCC Player of the Year season in 2023, Ochoa was primed for another big season in the pool in 2024. Her efforts were different, but still noted this season.
Ochoa earned second team All-GCC honors this year, her third season with an all-conference recognition. She had 50 goals, 42 assists, 37 drawn exclusions, and 35 steals this season. The junior had 14 games with multi-goal performances this season, including five goals twice in conference games.
She was relied on heavily to run the offense, tallying a single season program record 42 assists.
Ochoa heated up at the end of the season as she led the team during conference play with 19 goals and 11 assists. She also added 14 drawn exclusions and 11 steals to help Fresno State to its GCC title in 2024.
Her efforts at the 2024 GCC Championships earned her the title of Tournament MVP, her second straight season with the honor.
It always starts with the sprint
Senior Cynthia Rosa, who earned honorable mention honors by the conference this season, is the queen of the sprint. This season, Rosa passed her single-season best mark as she enters the weekend with an 82-6 sprint record. The 82 sprint wins are the most by a player in program history, passing her own record of 70 from a season ago.
Among players in the nation with 40 or more sprints, Rosa had the top sprint win percentage (.932). Her 82 wins rank third in the nation.
Rosa has won 19 consecutive sprints dating back to April 12. She has only lost more than one sprint in one game this season and just has five games with a sprint lost on the year.
A WALL.
Senior keeper Paula Nieto Jasny has been as consistent as ever this season, totaling 193 saves on the year, the second-most in a season in program history.
Nieto Jasny was named a first team All-GCC player and was named to the all-tournament team at the conclusion of the conference event. She also earned one GCC Player of the Week nod on the year.
He boasts a 7.69 goals against average which ranks as the fifth-best mark in the nation. With Nieto Jasny as the Bulldogs' primary keeper this season, Fresno State was 18-2 when opponents were held to nine or fewer goals this season.
She set the bar high from the get-go, setting the single-game program record with 17 saves in the season opener against No. 13 Michigan.
This season, she has had eight games with double-digit saves while also only having eight games while allowing double digit goals.
The duo we didn't know we needed
Fresno State has a powerful one-two punch in the duo of sophomore Hailey Andress and senior Abbey Simshauser.
Andress came in this season off of a decorated freshman campaign as the GCC Newcomer of the Year and All-American recognitions. Her 2023 campaign set her up as a Cutino Award watch list addition this season. She continued her growth this season, totaling a team-high 71 goals, 26 assists, 10 drawn exclusions and 45 steals. Her 71 goals are just one fewer than the single season program record. She led the Bulldogs in scoring in a team-high 14 games this season and had 23 multi-score games this season including 13 hat tricks for the most in a season by a Bulldog. Andress has scored in all but two games this season.
On the other hand, the Bulldogs brought in Simshauser as a transfer from Wagner College this offseason. Simshauser was an immediate impact maker for the 'Dogs, leading the team in points with 70 goals and 37 assists. She has also contributed with 42 drawn exclusions and 51 steals.
Her 51 steals are a single season program record and a mark that was ninth in the country this season. Right alongside Andress, she led the team in scoring in 12 games this season, and had 21 multi-score games on the year, including 12 hat tricks. She tied the single game program record with six goals against No. 12 Long Beach State at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational. She scored at least one goal in all but one game this season. Simshauser was a two-time GCC Player of the Week honoree, a first team All-GCC selection and was named to the GCC All-Tournament team.