THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The Division III No. 10-ranked Austin College women’s water polo team put up strong fights against Division II opponents California State University-Monterey Bay and Sonoma State University, but came up short, falling by scores of 14-9 and 14-6, respectively.
The Kangaroos jumped out to a 3-0 lead against CSU-Monterey Bay behind three goals from Lexi Wong, but the Otters countered with six unanswered tallies to take a 6-3 lead midway through the second quarter. Wong scored again to make it 6-4, but one more goal for Monterey Bay made it 7-4 at halftime. The margin grew to 11-5 in the third, and the ‘Roos were unable to overcome the deficit down the stretch.
Wong finished with six goals in the game to lead the way offensively, and Valery Pianchonkina made nine saves in goal for the ‘Roos.
Against Sonoma State, the ‘Roos found themselves trailing 4-0 after the first quarter and the Seawolves took a 7-1 lead into halftime, with Sophie Oliver getting Austin on the board in the second quarter. Austin played Sonoma State evenly in the third quarter, with each side scoring three times to make it 10-4 heading into the fourth but the ‘Roos were unable to make up ground in the final period, as the Seawolves won the quarter 4-2 to make it a 14-6 final.
Oliver scored twice to lead Austin College, while Katherine Cox, Madison Taylor, Brooke Le and Kendall Katusak each tallied in defeat. Piachokina made three saves for Austin.
Release courtesy Austin College Athletics Communications
