Women's Water Polo Begins NCAA Championship Quest Friday

Friday, April 24

La Jolla, Calif.

4:00 PM (PT)

UCLA

Harvard

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Photo by: Mac Brown

Women's Water Polo Begins NCAA Championship Quest Friday

April 21, 2026 | Women's Water Polo

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ON DECK
Second-seeded UCLA begins play at the 2026 National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship Friday in La Jolla, Calif. UC San Diego hosts the single-elimination tournament at Canyonview Aquatic Center. The Bruins and No. 7 seed Harvard square off at 4 p.m. PT in the quarterfinal round. Subsequent games would take place Saturday and Sunday, with those set for 6 p.m. starts. Games will be streamed Friday and Saturday on NCAA.com and televised Sunday on ESPNU. Live stats will be available on TheFOSH.net.

TOURNAMENT TOTALS
Tournament Total Appearances: 30th
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 24th
Total Won-Lost Record: 69-18 (.784)
NCAA Won-Lost Record: 46-15 (.754)
Shutouts in Tournament Games: 2
Record in Championship Games: 12-5 (.706)
Total National Championships: 12
NCAA Championships: 8
Second-Place Finishes: 4
Third-Place Finishes: 10
Total Goals Scored: 822
Total Goals Allowed: 458
NCAA Tournament Goals Scored: 578
NCAA Tournament Goals Allowed: 377

BRUINS FINISH THIRD AT MPSF TOURNAMENT
Third-seeded UCLA outlasted host and No. 4 seed California 10-9 in the MPSF Championship Tournament third-place game April 12 at Spieker Aquatics Complex. The Bruins jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first quarter, but the teams were never separated by more than two goals from that point on. A late steal by utility Bia Mantellato sealed the win. In a semifinal-round thriller one day earlier, second-seeded Stanford converted a sudden-death overtime goal to beat UCLA 12-11 despite a dazzling performance by Bruin goalkeeper Lauren Steele. In its opener, UCLA defeated No. 6 seed Indiana 20-10 (April) nehind four Bruin hat tricks. Steele (41 saves, including a season-high 20 against Stanford) and utility Anna Pearson (15 earned exclusions) were named to the MPSF All-Tournament Team.

ELEKTRA-FYING PERFORMANCE
Junior attacker Elektra Urbatsch had a breakout display at the MPSF Championship Tournament, totaling 10 goals across three games. The Brooklyn, N.Y. native had not scored more than two goals in a contest prior to her latest Berkeley, Calif. trip. She was one of four Bruins with hat tricks against Indiana (April 10), poured in four goals versus Stanford (April 11) and added three more in the finale at California (April 12). Urbatsch is tied for fourth on the team with 31 goals.

UCLA TRIO NAMED TO CUTINO AWARD WATCH LIST
Three UCLA women's water polo standouts were named to the 2026 Peter J. Cutino Award Watch List March 26, USA Water Polo and The Olympic Club announced in collaboration with the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches. Named in honor of the late Hall of Fame coach, the Cutino Award recognizes the best player in men's and women's college water polo each year. Seniors Bia Mantellato, Anna Pearson and Taylor Smith were chosen to the group, which is made up of 20 athletes recognized by varsity college coaches for their outstanding play. Smith (65 goals), Mantellato (59) and Pearson (42) make up the Bruins' top three goal scorers. Smith set a new career high for goals scored just 13 games into the season. She has scored in 23 of 24 games, posting a multi-goal effort in 21 of them. Smith was tabbed MPSF/Delfina Player of the Week Feb. 3 after scoring 15 goals across four games during UCLA's Triton Invitational championship run. Mantellato, who was a Cutino Award finalist in 2024 while at Hawai'i, has scored two or more goals in 19 of the past 20 games. She totaled six in a 10-9 win against USC (Feb. 14). Pearson also had a six-goal showing earlier this season (Feb. 28 versus Michigan) and has scored four or more goals in four games.

SIX BRUINS EARN ALL-MPSF HONORS
Six Bruins were honored April 9 by the MPSF, which announced its Delfina All-Conference selections. Emma Lineback, Bia Mantellato, Katherine O'Dea, Anna Pearson, Taylor Smith and Lauren Steele were recognized. UCLA's five players across the first-team, second-team and honorable-mention lists were most of any MPSF program. Six overall tied for the league lead. Pearson and Steele were voted onto the first team. Lineback and Smith made the second team. Mantellato received honorable mention. O'Dea earned a spot on the All-Newcomer Team. Lineback, Pearson and Steele each collected All-MPSF acclaim for the third time, while Mantellato and Smith each became two-time honorees.

OTHER 2026 AWARDS
Lauren Steele Selected MPSF/Delfina Player of the Week – March 31
Katherine O'Dea Named MPSF/S&R Sport Newcomer of the Week – March 3
Taylor Smith Selected UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week Presented by La Victoria – Feb. 4
Taylor Smith Voted MPSF/Delfina Player of the Week – Feb. 3

MANTELLATO MAGIC
Bia Mantellato was a force for the Bruins as they earned a runner-up finish at February's Barbara Kalbus Invitational in Irvine, Calif. The senior's finest moment of the weekend came in a thrilling semifinal-round win versus third-ranked USC. Mantellato piled up a season-high six goals – including UCLA's final two of a 10-9 result – while adding five earned exclusions and a pair of assists against the Trojans (Feb. 14). She finished the tournament with 10 goals, five assists, 11 earned exclusions and one steal across three games. Mantellato ranks second on the team with 59 goals. She's logged 10 hat tricks and 20 multi-goal games (including 19 in the past 20).

TAYLOR MADE
Just 13 games into her senior campaign, Taylor Smith set a single-season career high for goals. She currently leads the team with 65 in 24 games. Smith's personal best prior to this season was 40, across 26 games, in 2025. She has scored in all but one game, logging 12 hat tricks along the way. Smith's performance at February's Triton Invitational was one to remember, as she matched her single-game career high with six goals in a 15-8 win versus No. 6 Arizona State (Jan. 31) and scored five times in a 12-9 victory against No. 2 USC (Feb. 2). She would receive the MPSF Player of the Week award for her role in the Bruins' runner-up finish. Smith logged four goals in UCLA's MPSF opener at No. 4 California, which the Bruins won by a 19-18 score in overtime. She accounted for three of her team's last four goals, including the game winner with 1:46 remaining in overtime. Smith has scored two or more goals in 21 games, including 13 of the past 14 and 17 of the past 19.

RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS
A total of six All-Americans will be suiting up for UCLA in 2026. The Bruins return all five of their All-Americans from the 2025 season, including First-Team selection, senior utility Anna Pearson (Irvine, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS). Junior goalkeeper Lauren Steele (Old Greenwich, Conn./Orange Lutheran HS) and RS-senior attacker Emma Lineback (Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach HS) both earned Second-Team All-American honors last year and are joined by Honorable Mention picks, senior center Bia Mantellato (São Paulo, Brazil/Newport Harbor HS) and senior utility Genoa Rossi (Laguna Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS). The Bruins also retain the services of 2023 Third-Team All-American, senior attacker Taylor Smith (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor HS).

EXPERIENCE BETWEEN THE POSTS
UCLA returns three goalkeepers who have all seen action in the cage for the Bruins. That list is headlined by two-time All-American, Lauren Steele. Also in that group is senior Izzy Rosensitto (Newport Beach, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic HS), and junior Joey Niz (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos HS).

INFLUX OF YOUTH
Six true freshmen have arrived in Westwood and look to make an immediate impact in 2026. The class is bolstered by three redshirts from last year, putting the total number of freshmen to nine on this year's roster. The six true freshmen include Presley Jones (Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach HS), Ally Larsen (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte HS), Katherine O'Dea (Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson HS), Jailynn Robinson (Dallas, Texas/Orange Lutheran HS), Alison Sagara (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte HS), and Sienna Steiner (Sarasota, Fla./Venice HS). The three redshirt freshmen are Ryan Chalupnik (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor HS), Aubrey Graham (Mountain View, Calif./Mountain View HS), and Ana Pieper (Orinda, Calif./Campolindo HS).

TRANSFER PORTAL
The Bruins' 2026 roster has been bolstered by three transfers from inside the MPSF. Janna Tauscher (Sunset Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS), the redshirt senior center from California has one year remaining, as does the senior defender from Arizona State, Zoë Frangieh (Los Gatos, Calif./Los Gatos HS). Also with one year remaining is senior attacker Fanni Muzsnay (Budapest, Hungary/Szabo Lorinc Bilingual HS), who transferred in from USC.

MORE BRUINS LOOKING TO MAKE AN IMPACT
UCLA also returns nine players from its 2025 roster that all made significant contributions last season. That group includes sophomores Jenna Human (El Cajon, Calif./Santana HS) and Jojo Walters (Dallas, Texas/Southlake Carroll HS), redshirt sophomores Dania Innis (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte HS), Alexsa Gimenez (Commerce, Calif./Downey HS), juniors Becca Melanson (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny HS), Olivia Ouellette (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos HS), and Elektra Urbatsch (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day School), and seniors Lily Gess (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) and Carly McMurray (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic HS), The Bruins will redshirt junior Natasha Kieckhafer (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic HS) and sophomore Maile Turner (Danville, Calif./Monte Vista HS), who are both recovering from undisclosed injuries.

COACHING CHANGES
With two-time reigning MPSF Coach of the Year, Adam Wright, stepping away from day-to-day operations as UCLA's head women's water polo coach in 2026, two current Bruins coaches have been elevated to the post of interim co-head coach. Jason Falitz, who has been the associate head coach on the men's side since 2017 and at that same post with the women's team since the 2022 season, will serve as one of the co-head coaches. Matt Kubeck, who just completed his second season as an assistant coach with the Bruins' men's squad will also serve as a co-head coach with the women in 2026. Additionally, UCLA completed its coaching staff with former Stanford standout Ryann Neushul to the post of assistant coach. Neushul is a four-time NCAA Champion, a four-time All-American, a two-time World Champion, and the 2025 Peter J. Cutino Award winner.

RECAPPING 2025
Overall Record: 20-6 (.769) | MPSF Record: 5-1 (.833) | Final Rank: 3rd | NCAA Finish: T-3rd | MPSF Tourney Finish: 2nd
The UCLA Bruins finished the season with the No. 1 seed heading into the MPSF Championship Tournament for the second straight year. But the Bruins were unable to successfully defend their MPSF and NCAA Tournament titles from a 26-0 season in 2024, falling in overtime, 11-9, to No. 1 Stanford at home in the MPSF final. Seeded second for the NCAA Championship, the Bruins fell to No. 3 USC, 15-13, in the semifinals.