NORTON, Mass. — Player of the Game Frances Baksa (So., Longwood, Fla./Lake Mary) scored five times – including a pair in the decisive fourth quarter – as Grove City College topped Division III No. 9-ranked Washington & Jefferson College, 16-13, on the first day of the 2026 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship hosted at Wheaton College’s Balfour Natatorium.
The win places the 2010, 2011, 2012 CWPA Division III Champion Wolverines (5-15, 3-5 CWPA Division III regular season) into a 1:00 p.m. semifinal on Saturday, April 11, against 2017, 2018, 2019 CWPA Division III Champion/Division III No. 6 Macalester College as the Scots defeated Connecticut College, 11-6, in an earlier championship contest. The seven-time (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2025) CWPA Division III Championship runner-up Presidents (8-8, 5-3 CWPA Division III regular season) will return to the water at 10:00 a.m, in the first game on Day Two of the CWPA Division III Championship seeking a berth in the Fifth Place game on Sunday, April 12, at 9:30 a.m.
Tied at nine-all exiting halftime, Grove City acquired some breathing room in the third quarter as Shastyn Tihansky (Jr., Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton) (7:19) and Kiley Sill (Sr., Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) (3:31) put away shots to construct an 11-9 lead for the Wolverines.
W&J erased its deficit courtesy Hallie Ratcliff (Jr., Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood) (3:16, third quarter) and Emmie Ratcliff (So., Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood) (7:39, fourth quarter) closing the third quarter and starting the fourth quarter with sister-strikes to knot the contest at 11-all.
Grove City again pulled away, however, as Tihansky (7:14, penalty shot) and Emily Addison (Fr., Eads, Tenn./Faith Heritage Christian) (6:46) stroked in shots to give the Wolverines another two goal lead at 13-11.
Autumn Woollcott (So., Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) chipped a goal off Washington & Jefferson’s deficit at 3:37 to move within 13-12, but back-to-back blows by Baksa at the 3:20 and 2:30 marks battered W&J’s comeback dreams by expanding Grove City’s margin to 15-12.
Woollcott attempted to reinvigorate W&J’s offense by putting away a chance with 1:27 left in regulation to shrink the Presidents’ deficit to 15-13. The teams went back-and-forth until Addison lined in an empty net shot with three ticks left in the fourth quarter to tack on another insurance tally in a 16-13 win.
Grove City – which never trailed in the game – put W&J behind the eight-ball from the get-go as back-to-back Baksa blasts at 7:43 and 6:29 staked the Wolverines to a 2-0 lead approximately 90 seconds into the showdown. Hallie Ratcliff placed Washington & Jefferson on the scoreboard at 4:43 prior to Emma Strahorn (So., Harleysville, Pa./North Penn) (4:27) and Sill (1:48) expanding Grove City’s lead to 4-1. Mackenzie Caron (Fr., Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin) chipped a marker off the lead prior to the closing horn of the first quarter as she delivered with 1:09 to go in moving the Presidents back to within a pair at 4-2.
Tihansky got the goal back 21 seconds into the second quarter as she swished a shot with 7:39 until halftime to pad Grove City’s margin to 5-2.
The score ignited a 12-tally offensive outburst by the two teams in the second quarter which led to a nine-all halftime score and the Wolverines’ second half surge to victory.
Emmie Ratcliff (7:21, penalty shot), Caron (7:08) and Hallie Ratcliff (4:56) leveled the damage at five-all, but Tihansky (4:32, penalty shot) and Baksa (3:47) nailed shots to once again give Grove City a two-score lead at 7-5.
The back-and-forth offensive haymaker exchange between the two teams continued as Emmie Ratcliff (3:18, man-up) pulled Washington & Jefferson within 7-6, Strahorn (1:38, man-up) answered for the Wolverines for an 8-6 advantage, Riley Gutierrez (Fr., Deer Park, Texas/Deer Park) shaved the deficit down to 8-7 and Amelia Hervey (Fr., Naperville, Ill./Metea Valley) gave Grove City another two-score lead at 9-7 with 1:04 until halftime.
The Wolverines’ lead did not live to see intermission as Caron (47 seconds) and Hallie Ratcliff (eight seconds) found the twine with final minute shots to set the scoreboard at nine-all through 16 minutes of non-stop action.
For Grove City, Baksa (five), Tihansky (four), Strahorn (two), Addison (two) and Sill (two) combined for 15 of their team’s 16 goals with Hervey contributing a solo marker. Goalkeeper Lea Steen (Sr., Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) made four saves in stifling the Presidents’ offense.
Hallie Ratcliff (four), Caron (three), Emmie Ratcliff (three), Woollcot (two) and Gutierrez accounted for W&J’s 13 goals in support of a four save effort by netminder Lani Weaver (Fr., Conroe, Texas/Conroe).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Grove City College (5-15) | 4 | 5 | 2 | 5 | – | 16 |
| Division III No. 9 Washington & Jefferson College (8-8) | 2 | 7 | 1 | 3 | – | 13 |
| W&J Goals: | Hallie Ratcliff (4); Mackenzie Caron (3); Emmie Ratcliff (3); Autumn Woollcott (2); Riley Gutierrez | |||||
| Grove City Goals: | Frances Baksa (5); Shastyn Tihansky (4); Emma Strahorn (2); Kiley Sill (2); Emily Addison (2); Amelia Hervey | |||||
| Saves: | W&J – Lani Weaver (4) ; Grove City – Lea Steen (4) | |||||
| Exclusions: | W&J – 7 ; Grove City – 7 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | W&J – 2-for-7 ; Grove City – 3-for-7 | |||||
| Sprints: | W&J – 2-for-4 (3rd, 4th) ; Grove City – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Corey Luigard; Mark Veszi | |||||
Grove City College’s Emily Addison (#5) stretches to defend Washington & Jefferson College’s Hallie Ratcliff (#14)
Washington & Jefferson College’s Riley Gutierrez (#4) seeks to pass over Grove City College’s Emma Strahorn (#14)
Grove City College’s Kiley Sill (#6) scopes an opening to elude Washington & Jefferson College’s Mackenzie Caron (#12)
