Women’s Indoor Track
UCI sent 14 competitors to take part in nine events at the UW Invitational this past weekend at Dempsey Indoor.
Junior Persis William-Mensah led the charge on Friday with a 10th place finish in the 200m dash with a time of 24.83, .04 seconds off her school-record mark.
Freshman Anastasia Karnaze finished 11th in 3000m, posting the fourth-best indoor time in that event in UCI history with a 10:14.91, while fellow freshman Brenda Dorantes registered a personal record of 10:38.04.
Sophomore Barbara Coward placed 20th in the weight throw with a toss of 50-02.50.
Saturday saw senior Crystal Lizaola break a five-year old school record in the 800m, finishing in 20th place at 2:12.93, six seconds faster than her original best.
Senior Megan George narrowly missed the 60m hurdles crown, coming within .002 of the eventual winner with a time of 8.496, while William-Mensah was at it again taking fourth in the 60m dash at 7.53.
Seniors Marisa Gonzalez and Aliya Shah were able to run personal records in the mile with times of 5:16.73 and 5:24.59 respectively.
The ‘Eaters will take a week off before returning to action at the Don Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 10-11.
Women’s Water Polo
The ‘Eaters begin the season as the sixth-ranked team in the country, and played the part with a 20-4 victory over No. 24 Cal Baptist in the Cal Baptist Mini Tournament at the Lancer Aquatics Center.
Senior McKenna Mitchell paced UCI with four goals, while juniors Natalie Seidemann and Mary Brooks contributed three apiece. Juniors Allie Loomis, Julie Swieca, Keana Eldridge and senior Mackenzie Milham got on the board with two, and junior Kelli Baumgardner and Gabby Pierandozzi each had one goal.
Junior Riley Shaw saved 10 shots for the ‘Eaters, while sophomore Jenna Phreaner played the fourth quarter and added two saves herself.
The lead was never in doubt as UCI rocketed to a 5-0 first quarter and 10-2 halftime advantage. The ‘Eaters added four more goals in the third before pouring in six in the fourth by six different players.
UCI concluded the Mini Tournament with a matchup with No. 25 CSU Bakersfield, and improved to 2-0 on the young season.
Mitchell led the way in scoring again with four goals, with Brooks not far behind with three. Pierandozzi added two and Eldridge, senior Kelsey Thornton, junior Corinna Toledo and freshman
Marissa Echelberger each notched a goal in the 13-3 win.
Phreaner posted six saves, with Shaw coming in for the final quarter and saving one.
The ‘Eaters will travel to Palo Alto for the Stanford Invitational on February 4-5, matching up with Hawai’i in their first game.
Women’s Tennis
UCI women’s tennis dropped their third straight to open the season, this time in nail-biter to visiting San Diego State 4-3 after coming back from a 3-1 deficit at Anteater Tennis Stadium on Sunday.
The ‘Eaters took the doubles point for the first time this season, after freshmen Constance Branstine and Stephanie Nguyen took their flight one match 6-2 and the team of junior Vivien Dvali and sophomore Stephanie Hazell won at flight three 6-1.
The Aztecs fired back with straight set wins at number three singles over senior Cassidy Branstine and number six singles over junior Ashlynn Hall. Senior Kennedy Davis of SDSU defeated Dvali in a flight two match that went the distance 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, putting the visitors one point away from the clincher.
Hazell got UCI back on the board with a 7-5, 6-2 triumph over SDSU freshman Berta Acero at number five, and Nguyen was able to knock off senior Olivia Larsson at number four with a three-set comeback victory 2-6, 7-6 (3), 6-0.
With the score tied 3-3, the match came down to the flight one singles match between Constance Branstine and Aztec junior Jana Buth. Buth took down a close first set 7-5 before Branstine struck back to take the second 6-4. Buth proved too much to handle as she took the final set 6-3 and the match for SDSU.
UCI (0-3) looks to pin down their first win of the year in their next match as they welcome Saint Mary’s to Anteater Tennis Stadium on Feb. 5.
