LEBANON, Ill. – The women's water polo team is back after a bye weekend, as they will get a one-game preparation against DIII No.5 Augustana College, before heading off to California for their West Coast trip.
The match will be played in Rock Island, Illinois at the Anne Greve Lund Natatorium on Saturday, February 28th, with the start time set for 2:00 PM CT.
Live streaming designations will be publicized in the coming days. There will be no live stats during the game; however, a box score of the game's statistics will be released later in the day.
SCOUTING THE LAST OUTINGS
The team fell short in tabbing a win two weekends ago in the highly competitive Midwest Invite in Ann Arbor, Michigan from February 14th and 15th.
They fell to a pair of nationally ranked teams on day one on Saturday, losing to both No.17 University of California, Davis [3-29] and the host No.16 University of Michigan [6-20] to end their three-game win streak. For the final day on Sunday, the Bearcats competed much better against Mount St. Mary's, but a late rally came short for them [8-11], as they concluded the Invite against No.10 Indiana University, where they flattered [3-23] to wrap up the weekend in the Wolverine state.
A GREAT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Within the Midwest Invite, and despite going up against top 25 Division I competition, Junior utility Hailey Munoz (Murrieta, Calif.) gave a team-high eight points in the event with five goals and three assists, plus four drawn exclusions and supplemented defensively with four steals and a field block. Junior attacker Shanelle Marquez (Madrid, Spain) also chipped in five goals on the weekend, and also recorded an assist, five drawn exclusions, and six takeaways. Junior center and leading scorer Bella Morquecho (Chicago, Ill.) tabbed four goals on 44.4% shooting, but was highlighted by drawing a whopping 14 exclusions in the four matches.
Time in the cage was split amongst McKendree's three goalkeepers, as freshman Delaney Judkins (La Grange, Ill.) led the way with 21 saves on a 40.4 save percentage and four steals in two complete games. Freshman Daisy Wetherholt (Malibu, Calif.) collected 10 saves in 56 total minutes as the guardian, as sophomore Elizabeth Zurawski (San Antonio, Texas) recorded one save in eight total minutes of action.
TEAM TOPPERS
• SHOTS –
Bella Morquecho (37)
• GOALS –
Bella Morquecho (23)
• ASSISTS – Tie;
Dylan Murphy,
Joey Rebelo (9)
• POINTS –
Bella Morquecho (24)
• SHOOTING % –
Bella Morquecho (50.0%)
• DRAWN EXCLUSIONS –
Bella Morquecho (33)
• STEALS –
Joey Rebelo (13)
• FIELD BLOCKS – Tie;
Jazmine Sandoval,
Dylan Murphy (3)
• SPRINTS WON –
Dylan Murphy (3)
• SPRINT % –
Jazmine Sandoval (28.6%)
• SAVES –
Delaney Judkins (45)
• SAVE % –
Delaney Judkins (31.9%)
LOOKING AHEAD
After McKendree plays Augustana in Rock Island, they will quickly turn their attention to the sunny West Coast to compete in a six-game California trip, as they will take part in the CSUN Mini Invite on Thursday, March 5th to battle RV Villanova University and No.23 California State University, Northridge to start their long journey.
The team will then make their way to Claremont to play in the prestigious Convergence Tournament, where they will take on Azusa Pacific University and the University of Redlands on day one on Friday. For day two they will face Concordia University Irvine in a non-conference matchup and will conclude with RV / DIII No.2 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges.
Live streaming and live stats designations are to be determined.
TUNE IN-FO
| DATE |
TIME (CT) |
HOME (DARK) TEAM |
AWAY (WHITE) TEAM |
LIVE STATS |
WATCH LIVE |
| 2/28/26 |
2:00 PM |
Augustana |
McKendree |
STATS |
WATCH |
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