NCAA 2021 Women’s Polo Tournament Opens with Two Great Match-ups

Today’s the day for the 2021 NCAA Women’s national polo championship to start at UCLA’s Spieker Aquatic Center. The fact that the women are playing at all is a testament to tremendous perseverance on behalf of the athletes, their families, the coaches, the schools and the NCAA.

When Marist tips off against Salem at 2 p.m. EST, the excitement will be palatable of two programs thriving outside of California facing each other—even if no fans will be in the stands at Spieker. Marist has waited a decade for another shot at NCAAs; the Red Foxes were last at the national championship in 2009 when Ashleigh Huckins was their coach.

This is the first appearance for Salem; in only the programs third year of existence, Justin Kassab has crafted the Tigers into one of the most dominant programs in the Midwest. It promises to be a compelling match-up; Marist (8-0; MAAC champion), behind Myriam Lyzotte, Viktoria Orlova and goalie Marina Hyham, proved to be the best in the East despite a schedule curtailed by the coronavirus.

[On The Record with Justin Kassab, Head Coach For Salem Women’s Water Polo]

In a season when so many programs struggled to get in the water, Salem (18-11) was able to get in 29 matches. This allowed Margherita Garibbo (58 goals, 56 assists), Annefleur ten Bloemendal (71 goals) and Chloe Woodbine (50 goals) to generate some eye-popping (in this strange season) statistics. Goalie Philippa Piper registered 304 saves in starting 26 of the Tigers matches.

This match will come down to depth. Marist has so few starts in 2021, the Red Foxes might not be able to sustain their intensity for four quarters. However, they have a roster that goes 12-deep; if Head Coach Chris Vidale’s team is close in the fourth, that may prove to be the difference as Marist seeks its first-ever NCAA polo win.

[On Deck with Chris Vidale, Marist Women’s Water Polo’s Head Coach]

On the other side of today’s bracket, Fresno State is a first-time NCAA participant in the program’s sixth years in existence. The Bulldogs (12-5; GCC champion)—who feature an attack spearheaded by Daphne Guevremont (37 goals, 23 assists) and Callie Woodruff (27 goals)—at 4 p.m. EST will face Cal Lutheran University. The Regals have now qualified for back-to-back NCAA tournaments via the SCIAC (Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) automatic berth.

In 2019, the last time the Regals (7-0; SCIAC champion) were in the championship, was an emotional story. Victoria Rose Meeks was on that CLU squad; her brother Justin—a former CLU polo player—was tragically murdered in the 2019 Borderline Shootings in Thousand Oaks, California.

[Cal Lutheran Water Polo to Honor Justin Meek, Kingsmen Class of 2018]

Now, the story is Lexi Rond, head coach Craig Rond’s daughter, who is the Regals’ star performer. This will be a tough match-up for the DIII school, which played only seven matches in an abbreviated 2021 schedule, including two blow-out wins against Cuesta College, a community college up the California coast towards San Francisco.

No matter what happens, it promises to be a great opening day for a tournament that—after so much heartache and despair brought on by COVID-19—is entirely necessary on so many levels.

The winner of the Marist vs. Salem match will face #1 USC on Friday. The winner from the Fresno State vs. CLU match will get #2 Stanford, also on Friday.

Both matches will be streamed live on the Pac12 Network. Click here for the stream.