MORGANTOWN, W. Va. - The women's water polo team will travel east to compete in the WWPA Championships tournament in hopes to capture their first-ever National Collegiate Water Polo Championships appearance.
The entire tournament will take place at the Peak Health Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown, West Virginia from April 25th to 27th. McKendree will start off with an exhibition match against future WWPA member University of California, Merced on Friday at 8:00 AM CT, then will automatically advance to the semifinals against the winner of Gannon University and Fresno Pacific University on Saturday at 10:00 AM CT. Win or lose, the Bearcats will play once more on Sunday with a spot in the championship at 12:00 PM CT if victorious – or a spot in the third-place game at 10:00 AM CT if faltered.
All contests will be streamed live for free on the WWPA streaming page at team1sports.com/wwpa. Live stats for the matches will be on thefosh.net; see below for specific destinations.
BEARCATS CURRENTLY
It has been a while since McKendree last played, which was roughly two-and-a-half weeks ago when they split 1-1 at the annual WWPA Erie Classic. They ended the regular season with a 19-7 overall record and 3-1 mark in conference action.
Against Gannon, they were down early at 4-2 within the first period, but then reeled off seven straight goals to take a 9-4 lead in the midst of the third quarter. The Golden Knights stopped the Bearcat run momentarily, but McKendree got hot once again with a 5-1 run, which eventually led them to win comfortably, 15-8. Sophomore center Bella Morquecho (Chicago, Ill.), junior attacker Joey Rebelo (Montreal, Québec), junior attacker Dylan Murphy (Carlsbad, Calif, and sophomore attacker Shanelle Márquez (Madrid, Spain) each finished with a hat-trick of three goals each while Murphy collected a trio of steals as Morquecho drew four exclusions. Junior attacker Jazmine Sandoval (Westminster, Calif.) and sophomore utility Hailey Munoz (Murrieta, Calif.) rounded out the Bearcat Scoring with two goals and one goal respectively. Senior goalkeeper Sydney Kane (Kankakee, Ill.) had an ecstatic all-around game with 14 saves and four steals on the defensive end plus a pair of assists on the offensive side in all 32:00 minutes of play.
In the setback against Salem, it was the opponents once again who started out with the advantage as the Tigers went up 3-1. The Bearcats connected on the next three goals and five of the next six scoring possessions, however, Salem went on a 5-1 run in the second half to give McKendree their first conference loss of the season, 8-9. Guzman led all McKendree scorers with three goals on four shot attempts. Morquecho racked up two more scoring possessions in this match to put her at five total on the day as she earned a steal and a drawn exclusion in the process. Márquez, Sandoval, and Murphy each rounded out with a goal while Márquez grabbed two steals as Sandoval helped share the wealth with a pair of assists. Kane was in the cage for all 32:00 minutes of action once more, where she tallied eight saves and also tied a career-high with five steals.
It was announced on Tuesday, April 22nd that Interim Head Coach Alex Figueras has been elevated to full-on Head Coach of the women's water polo team after a tremendous season thus far. You can read more about the promotion HERE.
On Wednesday, April 23rd, six Bearcats were recognized with WWPA All-Conference honors, including a sweep of the two major individual player awards. It marked the first time in program history that a women's water polo player has received a major yearly honor within any of the conferences. You can read more about the award winners and the highlights of their seasons HERE.
Kane – this year's conference Player of the Year, First Team selection, and All-Defensive Team selection – is top in the WWPA in total steals (6th – 30), total saves (1st – 295), save percentage (2nd – 59.4%), goals-against average (2nd – 8.37), saves per game (1st – 11.3) and steals per game (7th – 1.2). The senior is also top nationally in total saves (1st – 295), save percentage (3rd – 59.4%), goals-against average (6th– 8.37), and saves per game (2nd – 11.3).
Morquecho – who received this year's Newcomer of the Year and also a spot on the First Team – is top in the WWPA in total goals (3rd – 67), total points (6th – 70), goals per game (3rd – 26), and points per game (9th – 2.7). Her 67 goals and 79 drawn exclusions each lead the McKendree team while being second in points (70) and tied for third in steals (20).
Rebelo was another selection to the First Team All-WWPA, making it the second year in a row she earned the honor. She is top in the WWPA in total goals (4th – 62), total assists (7th – 33), total points (2nd – 95), total steals (9th – 27), goals per game (4th – 2.4), assists per game (7th – 1.3), points per game (2nd – 3.7). The junior leads the team in points (95) and in field blocks (7). She was second on the team in goals (62), assists (33), drawn exclusions (26), and steals (27).
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
University of California, Merced [Exhibition] | Friday, April 25th, 8:00 AM CT
Last Matchup: W, 15-5 on 1/25/2025 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
This will be the second-ever meeting between the two programs. The lone other contest was the first game of this season, where Figueras picked up his first interim win against UC Merced 15-5 on the opening day of the annual Hoosier Classic.
The Bobcats post a record of 5-23 as they lost three straight and eight of their last nine. All five of their wins came against NCAA Division III members, with the latter four coming against SCIAC opponents. UC Merced will be a member of the WWPA in both men's and women's programs in the 2025-26 year.
TUNE IN-FO
Click HERE to bring you to the tournament central: WWPA Championships
vs University of California, Merced [Exhibition]
WATCH: Click HERE (FREE – wwpa.com)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
vs Fresno Pacific University [Semifinals]
WATCH: Click HERE (FREE – wwpa.com)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
vs Biola University [Championship]
WATCH: Click HERE (FREE – wwpa.com)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
TEAM GUIDES
TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [UC Merced] [Fresno Pacific] [Biola]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [UC Merced] [Fresno Pacific] [Biola]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [UC Merced] [Fresno Pacific] [Biola]
PARTICIPANTS
McKendree University
Salem University
Gannon University
Biola University
Fresno Pacific University
California State University, Monterey Bay
University of California, Merced
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