Story Courtesy of Emma Menjivar '22
Washington, Pennsylvania - Fighting hard the last two games of the weekend, the Wittenberg University Women's water polo team fell to both Washington & Jefferson, 13-11, and Occidental, 17-11, to finish the weekend with a combined record of 2-2 at the W&J Invite
The Breakdown
The Tigers battled with the Presidents' of W&J, ultimately falling short of the two goals they needed to win the game in the last quarter. The Tigers chipped away at the Presidents' lead in the third quarter, but it wasn't quite enough as W&J escaped with the two-goal victory over Wittenberg.
The Tigers played their fourth and final game of the weekend against the Occidental Tigers. The California-Tigers came out strong in the first two quarters, as they limited Wittenberg to just four points and took the early 10-4 lead at the break. With Oxy still holding an 11-6 lead after three quarters of play, Wittenberg scored five goals in the final frame, but it wasn't enough Occidental added six goals in the final quarter to earn the 17-11 victory.
Third quarter the Wittenberg Tigers brought out the claws and came back ending the third quarter 6-11 allowing only one goal to the Occidental Tigers. The Wittenberg Tigers fought even harder the last quarter going 5-6 for the quarter but fell to Occidental 11-17.
Who Stood Out
Junior Savanah Phillips led the Tigers for the second day in a row in the scoring column, netting eight goals in the final game against Occidental. Freshman Tatum Bruno scored the first goal for the Tigers against Occidental, while senior Emily Sarver scored her second goal ever in the water polo competition as this is just her second year playing water polo after transitioning from swimming last season.
Up Next
The Tigers will now host their first-ever home varsity water polo games next weekend as Wittenberg plays host to the CWPA Regional Tournament on Saturday, March 2nd. Wittenberg opens the day with an 11:00 a.m. match against Carthage, followed by a 4:45 p.m. contest against Austin College.