No. 3 UCLA Cruises Past No. 11 UC Davis, 21-7

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BERKELEY, Calif. – Sophomore Emma Lineback scored a career-high five goals to lead the No. 3 UCLA women's water polo team (6-0) to a big win over No. 11 UC Davis (0-2), 21-7, in the Bruins' only countable game of the California Cup at Spieker Aquatics Complex on Saturday afternoon.

A total of nine Bruins got into the scoring column in the victory, including three more hat tricks, one each from graduate student Val Ayala, and freshmen Anna Pearson, and Lily Gess.

Junior Sydney Chiang got the start in the cage and went the distance, tallying a season-high eight saves while allowing seven goals.

The Bruins opened up with a 5-1 lead in the first quarter. UC Davis scored first, but the Bruins reeled off five straight goals to build a commanding lead they would never relinquish. Freshman Sienna Green took a feed from sophomore Molly Renner (6:12) to put the Bruins on the board. Then Lineback scored a power play goal (5:14) to put the Bruins in front. Pearson took a pass from Gess (4:28) to put the Bruins up 3-1. Graduate student Katrina Drake made it 4-1 (2:35) with a score from the front court. Lineback ended the scoring in the first with her second goal of the period (0:58) off a nice feed from freshman Taylor Smith.

UCLA won the second period 4-1, to take a 9-2 lead into the break. Ayala made it six consecutive goals for the the Bruins as she opened the scoring in the second quarter with a power play goal (5:22) that was drawn by senior Abbi Hill, who was playing in her first game of the 2023 season. After a goal by the Aggies, Pearson scored her second of the game (2:39) to put UCLA up 7-2. Gess then scored her first goal on a power play drawn by sophomore Nicole Struss and off a pass from junior Malia Allen (1:46). Gess scored her second on another power play off a feed from freshman Genoa Rossi (0:42) to end the scoring in the second quarter.

The Bruins won the third quarter 7-2 to build a 16-4 advantage heading into the final stanza. UC Davis opened the scoring in the third, but Drake scored her second of the game on a power play (5:02) to push the lead to 10-3. The Aggies then converted a penalty shot, but Lineback completed her hat trick (4:09) to provide an answer. Then senior Brooke Doten scored her first of the game (3:25) to put UCLA up 12-4. Renner scored her first of the game (2:45) and then Gess followed with her third (1:26) off an assist from Allen to make it 14-4. Ayala took a feed from Green to score her second of the game (0:41) and then Lineback hit Ayala for her third goal at the buzzer on a 7-on-6 play to end the scoring in the third.

UCLA won the fourth quarter, 5-3, to provide the 21-7 final. Pearson became the fourth Bruin to score a hat trick (7:14) when she opened the scoring in the fourth quarter. UC Davis scored back-to-back goals, but Lineback upped her career high in scoring with her fourth goal of the game (5:48) to extend the Bruins' lead to 18-6. Smith then got into the scoring column with a strike from the front court (2:57) to put UCLA up 19-6. After a goal by the Aggies, Renner scored her second of the game on a counter after a steal by Drake (1:08) and then Lineback netted her fifth of the game off a feed from Smith to end the scoring in the game.

Noelle Wijnbelt led UC Davis with a hat trick while Sophia Noble had four saves and a steal and surrendered nine goals to UCLA in the first half. Nellie McAdams came on in relief and had two saves while allowing 12 goals in the second half.

The Bruins return to action tomorrow when they take on No. 9 Fresno State in an exhibition game at Cal at 8:30 a.m. PT and then face No. 1 Stanford in an exhibition game at 3:15 p.m. at the California Cup at Cal's Spieker Aquatics Complex.

GAME NOTES: The Bruins won every quarter and had scoring runs of 7-0 (spanned the third and fourth quarters) and 6-0 (spanned the first and second quarters) …UCLA improved to 6-0 for the 18th time in school history … this was the 22nd meeting between UCLA and UC Davis with the Bruins leading the series 21-1 … UCLA has now registered 12 hat tricks in the first six games of the year … Gess and Pearson scored the first hat tricks of their collegiate careers … Lineback scored her third straight hat trick.

No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 11 UC Davis (California Cup)
Berkeley, Calif. (Spieker Aquatics Complex)

SCOREBOARD	1	2	3	4	FINAL
No. 11 UC Davis	1	1	2	3	7
No. 3 UCLA	5	4	7	5	21

6x5 – UCLA: 5/7, UCD: 0/4
Penalty Shots – UCLA: 0/0, UCD: 1/1

UCD Goals: Noelle Wijnbelt 3, Sam Yoo 1, Hailey Williams 1, Gianna Nocetti 1, Madi Sparre 1
UCD Saves: Sophia Noble 4, Nellie McAdams 2

UCLA Goals: Emma Lineback 5, Lily Gess 3, Val Ayala 3, Anna Pearson 3, Molly Renner 2, Katrina Drake 2, Brooke Doten 1, Taylor Smith 1, Sienna Green 1
UCLA Saves: Sydney Chiang 8

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No. 3 UCLA Cruises Past No. 11 UC Davis, 21-7

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Team Stats

Emma Lineback

Lily Gess

Val Ayala

Anna Pearson

Players Mentioned

Malia Allen

Val Ayala

Sydney Chiang

Brooke Doten

Katrina Drake

Lily Gess

Sienna Green

Abbi Hill

Emma Lineback

Anna Pearson

Molly Renner

Genoa Rossi

Taylor Smith

Nicole Struss

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

No. 3 UCLA Cruises Past No. 11 UC Davis, 21-7

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Team Stats

Game Leaders

Emma Lineback

Lily Gess

Val Ayala

Anna Pearson

Players Mentioned

Malia Allen

Val Ayala

Sydney Chiang

Brooke Doten

Katrina Drake

Lily Gess

Sienna Green

Abbi Hill

Emma Lineback

Anna Pearson

Molly Renner

Genoa Rossi

Taylor Smith

Nicole Struss

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