CLAREMONT, Calif. — Division III No. 6-ranked/Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Champion Augustana College built a 6-0 lead by halftime and cruised to a 16-3 defeat of Division III No. 7/CWPA Division III Championship runner-up Austin College in the 2024 USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Championship Third Place game at Pomona-Pitzer College’s Haldeman Pool.
Augustana – which claims its 20th victory of the season with the win and adds to a legacy of prior Third (2023: 10-3 W vs. Austin at Augustana) and Fourth (2022: 12-9 L vs. Austin at Pomona-Pitzer) finishes at the Division III Championship – opened the scoring with 4:32 left in the first quarter as Ocean Akau (Jr., Pana’ewa, Hawaii/Kamehameha) drove home a man-up shot to break the ice. Waiahuli Akau (Fr., Pana’ewa, Hawaii/Kamehameha) insulated the lead by putting away a natural marker with 47 seconds remaining in the opening frame to stake the Vikings to a 2-0 margin after eight minutes of action.
The Vikings – which previously defeated Austin during the regular season by a 14-8 score (March 23 at Macalester) before topping the Kangaroos by a 14-10 score on April 21 at Connecticut College for the CWPA Division III Championship – continued to pull away in the second quarter as Ocean Akau (6:51), Anita Rodgers (Fr., Salt Lake City, Utah/Kearns) (5:51, man-up; 2:55) and Waiahuli Akau (2:19) put away four scoring opportunities to make it a 6-0 contest entering halftime.
Austin attempted to climb back into the game following the break as Joslyn Dimitri (Fr., Couer d’Alene, Idaho/Couer d’Alene) (4:24) and Alyssa Ross (Sr., San Jose, Calif./Leland) (3:54, penalty shot) put the ‘Roos on the scoreboard and closed the gap to 6-2.
However, Alayna Ickert (Fr., Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound) responded with man-up strikes at 3:30 and 3:09, respectively, to return the lead to six at 8-2.
Kylee Noble (Sr., Argyle, Texas/Guyer) and Annelie McGhee (Fr., Windermere, Fla./Olympia) wrapped up the third quarter scoring by rifling balls into the cage with 40 and 24 seconds remaining, respectively, for Austin and Augustana as the Vikings held a 9-3 lead heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
The final minutes were exclusively the domain of Augustana as Rodgers (6:35; 4:24), Mary King (So., Bakersfield, Calif./La Serna/California Baptist University) (5:08), Charlotte Newport (Jr., Baytown, Texas/Ross S. Sterling) (2:23), McGhee (1:57), Ickert (26 seconds) and Annie Opal Dickson (Jr., Imperial Beach, Calif./Mar Vista) (no time remaining) accounted for a 7-0 outburst for the 16-3 final score.
For Austin, Dimitri (one goal), Ross (one goal), Noble (one goal), Mikhaela Torres (Fr., Cypress, Texas/Bridgeland) (one assist) and Emily Engberson (Sr., Copper Canyon, Texas/Marcus) (one assist) combined for the ‘Roos three goals and two assists. Between the posts, Engberson stopped three shots and allowed six goals during the first half to take the loss, while Ashley Easley (Fr, San Antonio, Texas/Brandeis) accounted for two saves and 10 goals allowed in the second half.
Rodgers (four goals, one assist) led the way for Augustana, while Ickert (three goals), Waiahuli Akau (two goals, two assists), Ocean Akau (two goals, two assists), McGhee (two goals, one assist), King (one goal, two assists), Opal Dickson (one goal, one assist), Newport (one goal), Abigail Gatlin (Fr., Pearland, Texas/Glenda Dawson) (two assists), Carli Udovich (So., Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) (one assist) and Abbey Ellis (Jr. Fresno, Calif./Sagner) (one assist) also factored on offense.
Goalkeeper Lizzie Pelzman (Jr., Roseville, Calif./Roseville) made 15 saves with three goals allowed and two assists in claiming the win.
Division III No. 1/host/Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Champion Pomona-Pitzer claimed the 2024 USA Water Polo Division III Championship later in the day as the Sagehens topped Division III No. 2/SCIAC runner-up Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges by a 15-10 count.
Following the championship game, the All-Tournament Team was announced:
2024 USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Championship All-Tournament Team
Most Valuable Player: Kaylee Stigar – Pomona-Pitzer Colleges
Zosia Amberger – Pomona-Pitzer Colleges
Namlhun Jachung – Pomona-Pitzer Colleges
Grace Clark – Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges
Amelia Adsen – Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges
Waiahuli Akau – Augustana College
Ocean Akau – Augustana College
Joslyn Dimitri – Austin College
