The Hawaii water polo team survived a tight Big West semifinal on Saturday to earn one more shot at its primary league rival.
Second-seeded UH bested No. 3 Long Beach State, 13-12, to advance to the BWC title match against top-seeded UC Irvine at UC Santa Barbara’s pool on Sunday morning.
Opening sprint is at 9 a.m. Hawaii time. It is the fifth straight year that UH (21-5) and UCI (19-6) will face off for the championship and automatic NCAA tournament berth, with the teams splitting the last four 2-2. The Anteaters upset the Rainbow Wahine at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex last year.
Goalkeeper Bridget Layburn came up with a stop in the final seconds against the Beach to save an outcome that was up for grabs throughout.
“We’re super excited for tomorrow. We lost last year in the final against Irvine, so it’s time how good we are,” Lot Stertefeld, who scored four goals to match teammate Alba Bonamusa Boix, told the Big West. “Take the champ home.”
UH beat LBSU (18-8) for the 10th straight time, but the Beach jumped out first. UH countered to go up three, but three straight scores from LBSU tied it up 6-6 at halftime.
“We just kept going even though it went downhill at the beginning,” Stertefeld said.
The Wahine eked ahead 12-9 with five minutes left in the match, but the Beach came back yet again, as Rachael Kowalchick’s goal made it a one-goal game with two minutes left.
Layburn stopped Gabriella Matafora-Adams’ skip shot for her ninth save of the game.
UH and UCI are 1-1 on the season, with each team beating the other at home. UH beat UCI 12-8 at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational on Feb. 26, and Irvine returned the favor with an 11-10 win at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex on April 15.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.