Water Polo Falls to Stanford in NCAA Semifinals

INDIANAPOLIS — A deep postseason run for the University of Hawai’i women’s water polo team reached its end on Saturday with a 13-4 loss to No. 1 Stanford In the semifinals of the National Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Championship at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
 
The Rainbow Wahine closed James Robinson‘s first season as head coach at 22-5 and with their second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championship’s final four.
 
Stanford’s Jenna Flynn scored six goals and the Cardinal (24-1) held UH to 4-for-29 shooting to return to the national final in pursuit of a 10^th NCAA crown.
 
“Obviously not the result you want in a semifinal, but gotta tip the cap to Stanford,” Robinson said. “Obviously an incredible program, an experienced team, they played awesome.
 
“For us, I think that one loss doesn’t define the season. Couldn’t be more proud of this group and what we accomplished. After a little bit of a disappointing finish last year, just being able to come back and put ourselves in that same position, all the credit in the world to the young women on this team to grind every single day and do everything we ever asked of them.”
 

 
UH seniors Bernadette Doyle and Jordan Wedderburn scored the final goals of their prolific Rainbow Wahine careers and freshmen Ema Vernoux and Gabrielle Doyle also tallied goals as they look to build on their first NCAA Championship experience.
 
Vernoux scored UH’s first goal of the match and closed her freshman year with 78, the fourth highest single-season total in program history. Gabrielle Doyle added a goal late in the first period off an assist from her older sister.
 
Bernadette Doyle, the Big West Player of the Year, added a goal in the third period and also came up with two steals and three field blocks. She finished her career with 132 goals, 104 assists and 132 steals as the second UH player to reach triple digits in all three categories.
 
Wedderburn scored the last of UH’s 329 collective goals this season to raise her individual totals to 68 this season and 161 in her career. She ranks eighth on the program’s single-season goals list and ninth on the career chart.
 

 
Daisy Logtens was credited with four saves, including a stop on a penalty shot, and finished with 209 in her sophomore season while raising her career total to 420.
 
UH earned back-to-back appearances in the NCAA semifinals for the first time since 2005 and 2006 with Friday’s quarterfinal win over California. The ‘Bows then ran into a Stanford lineup stocked with Olympians and stayed close early before the Cardinal broke away in their second win over UH this season.
 
Stanford struck first when Flynn converted on a penalty shot then scored on a counterattack. Flynn added another goal from close range with 1:44 left in the first quarter to give the Cardinal a 3-0 lead. Wedderburn drew a penalty in front of the goal and Vernoux hammered in UH’s first goal. The Doyle sisters then combined on a power-play goal when Bernadette sent a pass to Gabrielle who fired in a goal and UH cut the deficit to 3-2 heading into the second quarter.
 

 
Flynn added two more goals early in the second quarter, the first on a 6-on-5 and another on a counterattack. Logtens denied a penalty shot for the ‘Bows, but Stanford added to the lead moments later on a power-play goal. A UH shot hit off the bar and the Cardinal scored again with 16 seconds left in the half and led 7-2 at the break.
 
After Stanford scored three more goals in the first three minutes of the third quarter, Bernadette Doyle ended the run by lobbing in a shot at the 4:01 mark of the period for her third goal of the tournament.
 

 
The Cardinal led 11-3 after the third and Wedderburn scored UH’s final goal with 4:59 left in the match.
 
“I’m so grateful for the season that we had and I think we really just became a family and I wouldn’t have wanted to do this season with anyone else,” Wedderburn said. “Despite the outcome, I’m so grateful to have had the experience with the girls that we had and I know they’re going to do amazing things next year.”
 

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