CARLISLE, Pa. — Player of the Game Elizabeth Hernandez (Jr., Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Valley) scored seven times – including four in in the decisive fourth quarter – as No. 2-ranked/No. 3 position/Southwest Division Champion the University of California-San Diego survived and advanced versus No 20/No. 11 position/Bay Area Division Champion San Jose State University, 14-11, in the final quarterfinal match-up at the 2026 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
Competing at the Carlisle YMCA Aquatic Center, the Tritons – who previously claimed third (2022), third (2024) and fifth (2018) at the National Collegiate Club Championship – never trailed in turning back the Spartans and advancing to a semifinal showdown with No. 1/No. 2 position/Big Ten Division Champion the University of Michigan at 6:20 p.m. this evening. The victory guarantees UC-San Diego will net their fourth Top Five finish in four tries as the team can not finish lower than fourth place in the final 16-team championship standings due to knocking off the San Jose State.
The Spartans – who are making their inaugural appearance at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship – will take on No. 15/No. 7 position/Midwest Division Champion Grand Valley State University – which suffered a 15-2 setback against Michigan in an earlier quarterfinal – at 7:30 p.m. this evening with a berth in the Fifth Place game on the line.
The Tritons drew first blood in the contest as Jaclyn Hahn (Sr., Long Beach, Calif.) lined in a five-meter penalty shot (6:15) to acquire a quick 1-0 margin. Gabriela Mora (Jr., Visalia, Calif.) evened the damage for SJSU at 4:46, but Hernandez (4:14) and Cecilia Sommerfield (Sr., Mercer Island, Wash.) (3:39) put UC-San Diego back in front to stay courtesy consecutive strikes as the team acquired a 3-1 lead.
Cristina Fernandez (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) (4:11) and Hernandez (56 seconds, man-up) exchanged volleys in the waning seconds of the first quarter as UC-San Diego exited the opening seven minutes of action with a 4-2 margin.
Fernandez chipped the Tritons’ lead back to a single goal 29 seconds into the second quarter by putting away a frozen rope five-meter shot to close San Jose State within 4-3. It marked the final offensive success of the first half for the Spartans as Shristi Bandyopadhyay (So., Fremont, Calif.) (4:41; 1:29, penalty shot) and Emma Amakasu (Jr., Irvine, Calif.) (3:30) closed the first half with back-to-back-to-back strikes for a 7-3 margin at the break.
San Jose State attempted to erase its deficit in the third quarter as Monica Ureno (Sr., Fremont, Calif.) started a run with a tally at the 6:40 mark. Hernandez (6:19) returned UC-San Diego’s lead to four at 8-4, Juliana Vargas (So., Commerce, Calif.) inched SJSU back to within three at 8-5 (4:57) before Bandyopadhyay answered for the Tritons to make it 9-5 (4:14).
The final three minutes of the third quarter were the exclusive domain of San Jose State as Ureno (2:39), Vargas (2:02) and Fernandez (1:26) flushed shots to put San Jose State on the cusp of a comeback.
Leading 9-8 with the seven-minute fourth quarter left to play, the Tritons went back to work as Hernandez buried consecutive goals at 5:11 (man-up), 4:22 (man-up) and 3:22 (even-strength) to provide UC-San Diego at 12-8 spread with under three and a half minutes remaining in regulation.
San Jose State refused to go down without a fight, however, as Vargas (3:05), Naia Veliz-Straus (Fr., San Diego, Calif.) (2:22, man-up) and Sarah Overton (Fr., Pleasanton, Calif.) (1:15, man-up) shaved UC-San Diego’s lead down to 12-11 to raise the possibility of overtime.
Hernandez (51 seconds) and Bandyopadhyay (21 seconds) iced the victory for the Tritons with consecutive strikes in the span of the final minute as the Tritons move on with hopes and dreams of capturing the National Championship with two more wins.
For San Jose, Vargas (three), Fernandez (three), Ureno (two), Mora, Velez-Straus and Overton combined for the Spartans’ offensive output.
Across the tank, Hernandez (seven), Bandyopadhyay (four), Amakasu, Sommerfield and Hahn accounted for the Tritons’ 14 goal offense.
San Jose State University’s Blessing Cheng (#17) attempts to get a pass off as the University of California-San Diego’s Camryn Hoppe (#8) defends
San Jose State University’s Gabriela Mora (#6) & University of California-San Diego’s Esther Sullivan (#4)
