O'FALLON, Ill. - The women's water polo team will stay in-house one final time for the 2025 season as they will face the Firebirds of Carthage College on Saturday, March 22nd at 2:00 PM at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex in O'Fallon, Illinois.
The lone matchup of the weekend will also be the team's senior day, where they will honor senior goalkeeper Sydney Kane (Kankakee, Ill.).
The contest will be streamed live for free on the Western Water Polo Association Hudl TV portal at team1sports.com/wwpa/. Live stats for the match will be on https://www.thefosh.net/; see below for the specific destination.
BEARCATS CURRENTLY
McKendree is coming off a 2-0 week as they hosted the annual WWPA Bearcat Clash to kick off conference play. The squad now stands at 17-6 overall, matching their most wins in a season since 2023 as they are now 2-0 in WWPA action. With their next win, McKendree will reach the 100-win total plateau in its history dating back to 2017.
In the game one win against Salem University in the early morning, both teams would be in tight contention to start off the game, as McKendree would hold a 4-3 edge up till the early minutes of the third quarter. The Bearcats then went on a 3-0 run shortly after to extend their lead to four. With under four minutes remaining in the third period of play till the end of regulation, the Tigers would get their groove going a little bit by firing four more goals, but McKendree would tack on two more of their own to win narrowly, 9-7. Sophomore attacker Shanelle Márquez (Madrid, Spain) led the way with a season-high four goals on five attempts while also recording a steal and a field block on the defensive end. Junior attacker Joey Rebelo (Montreal, Québec) and sophomore center Bella Morquecho (Chicago, Ill.) each contributed a pair of goals as the former tacked on two assists and a drawn exclusion while the latter had three drawn exclusions and two steals. Sophomore utility Hailey Munoz (Murrieta, Calif.) rounded out with a goal and a drawn exclusion. Kane had 12 saves in the win.
In the game two win – to end the Clash – against Gannon University, the Bearcats started out hot with the match's first four goals coming from an array of players. Then, a seesaw affair would take place between the two squads as McKendree would hold a three-point edge with a little over six minutes remaining in the third period. Rebelo would notch back-to-back goals shortly after to up the lead to five, as the back and forth scoring possessions would pick right back up to finish off the game with the Bearcats coming away victorious again, 11-7. Rebelo and Munoz each recorded a hat-trick with three goals on five attempts, with the former also tallying three assists, a drawn exclusion, and two steals. Morquecho followed with a pair of scores for her team on three shot attempts, including four drawn exclusions. Kane tied her career-high of 20 saves with only seven goals allowed in this game, plus a steal. She had 20 against Salem last season in the WWPA Bearcat Clash on March 23rd, 2024.
Rebelo was one of several Bearcats who dominated the offensive end this weekend and within the entire season. She averaged 2.5 goals (5 total), 2.5 assists (5 total), 1.0 drawn exclusions (2 total), and 1.0 steals (2 total) on a 55.6% shooting percentage last weekend as she led the WWPA Bearcat clash in total goals (3rd – 5), total assists (1st – 5), total points (1st – 10), goals per game (3rd – 2.0), assists per game (1st – 2.5), and points per game (1st – 5.0). The junior leads the team in points (92), steals (27), and field blocks (7). The Montreal, Québec native ranks at the top of the WWPA currently in total goals (3rd – 58), total assists (2nd – 34), total points (1st – 92), total field bocks (4th – 7), total steals (1st – 27), goals per game (4th – 2.5), assists per game (2nd – 1.5), points per game (1st – 4.0), and steals per game (3rd – 1.2). Rebelo is top nationally in total goals (10th – 58), total assists (10th – 34), and total points (5th – 92).
With her spotlight performances, Rebelo received this week's WWPA Defensive Player of the Week honors. It was her second time receiving the recognition in the season and the fifth time overall.
Kane was a key factor in both games of a Clash as she averaged 16.0 saves (32 total) on 7.0 (14 total) goals allowed (69.6% save percentage) along with 0.5 steals (1 total) in the two games played this weekend in all 32:00 out of 32:00 minutes. She led the WWPA Bearcat Clash with total saves (1st – 32), save percentage (1st – 69.6%), goals-against-average (1st – 7.00), and saves per game (1st – 16.0). The senior is top in the WWPA in total steals (3rd – 21), total saves (1st – 265), save percentage (2nd – 59.0%), goals-against average (2nd – 8.46), and saves per game (1st – 11.5). The Kankakee, Illinois native is top nationally as of March 15th in total saves (1st – 265), save percentage (2nd – 59.0%), goals-against average (4th – 8.46), and saves per game (2nd – 11.5).
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Carthage College | Saturday, March 22nd, 2:00 PM CT
Last Matchup: W, 11-3 on 2/22/2025 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
This will be the 12th-ever meeting between the two programs. McKendree beat Carthage 11-3 exactly one month ago when they play them this Saturday as this will be the fourth time the two teams have gone head-to-head this season. The Bearcats won the past 10 matchups in the series by an average of 11.0 points to take a convincing 10-1 lead in the entire nine-year series.
The Firebirds are currently 2-17 thus far into the season with a 0-6 mark in CWPA action. They recently went 0-4 last weekend in the CWPA East Region Tournament and have lost nine straight and 12 of their last 13. Their only two wins of the season both came against the California Insititute of Technology [Caltech].
TUNE IN-FO
vs Carthage College
WATCH: Click HERE (FREE – WWPA)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
TEAM GUIDES
TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Carthage]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Carthage]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Carthage]
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