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The Hawaii Rainbow Wahine water polo team’s quest for redemption came up short in a 10-9 overtime loss to defending champion UC Irvine in the Big West Championship game Sunday at the UC Santa Barbara campus pool.
Hawaii (21-6) and UC Irvine (20-6) met in the Big West title game for the fifth straight time, with the Anteaters also claiming the 2022 title over the Rainbow Wahine.
Airian Grishma led UC Irvine with three goals and two assists, while tournament MVP Erin Tharp saved 14 shots in goal. Bia Mantellato Dias, Lot Stertefeld and Jordan Wedderburn led the Wahine with two goals each, while keeper Bridget Layburn made 11 saves.
The first half was a defensive battle with UH shooting 2-for-11 and UC Irvine 3-for-15 as the Anteaters took to a 3-2 lead at the break.
UCI pushed its lead to 6-3 in the final seconds of the third quarter, but UH’s Libby Gault scored at the buzzer to close it to 6-4 heading into the final quarter.
Hawaii held UC Irvine scoreless in the fourth quarter, while scoring two goals to tie up the match. The Wahine had a chance to win the match in regulation, but Tharp blocked Mantellato Dias’ shot as time expired.
The Anteaters outscored the Wahine 3-1 in the first overtime but UH outscored UCI 2-1 in the second OT session, closing to within 10-9 on Lucia Gomez de la Puente’s goal at 1:24 in the second overtime. The Rainbow Wahine had two chances to tie the match in the final minute, but Gault’s shot with 41 seconds left was blocked, while Stertefeld’s shot sailed over the goal with four seconds left.
With UC Irvine claiming the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, the No. 5 Rainbow Wahine will have to wait for the NCAA Selection Show today at 2 p.m. to learn of its postseason fate.
