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NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Goalie Mary Campbell made 10 saves, including six in the second half, as Southeast Division Champion/No. 6-ranked the University of Florida became the first team from the East Coast to win the Women’s Collegiate Club Championship by downing defending National Champion/Sierra Pacific Division Champion/No. 2 the University of California-Davis, 4-3, at the University of Notre Dame’s Rolfs Aquatic Center.

  • Making the program’s third National Championship title game appearance following 5-4 losses against Michigan State University in 2001 (at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio) and 2006 (at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.), the Gators built a 4-1 lead by halftime and needed all Campbell could offer against the four-time National Champion (2012, 2013, 2017, 2018) Aggies to capture the school’s first-ever National Championship in the sport of water polo.
  • The Gators never trailed in dethroning UC-Davis as Kelly Martin (Gr., Orlando, Fla.) broke the ice with 2:55 left in the first quarter.  Dallyce Marglon (Sr., Tracy, Calif.) erased the Aggies’ deficit 2:05 later as she converted a man-up chance with 50 seconds left to knot the score at one-all.
  • Florida would finish off its scoring in the second quarter to build a lead which Campbell would defend in the second half to allow the Gators to escape with the win.
  • Martin opened up a 3-0 surge as she lined in a man-up chance (6:07) before Stephanie Zwicker (Gr., Orlando, Fla.) and Phoebe Iglesias (Jr., Miami, Fla.) drilled in natural goals at 2:57 and 1:04, respectively, to build the Gators’ margin to 4-1 after 14 minutes of action.
  • Iglesias’ score with time winding down in the first half would prove to be the goal upon which the outcome of entire 2019 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship would depend – thanks to Campbell.
  • Following nearly four and a half minutes of scoreless water polo in the third quarter as Campbell turned aside four Aggies’ scoring tries and UC-Davis netminder Cassidy Crouch (Jr., Clovis, Calif.) stymied the Gators twice, the defending champions would begin to turn up the pressure on the Gators.
  • Hailey Jackson (Jr., San Diego, Calif.) put away the only tally of the third frame as she found the back of the cage at 2:31 to move the Aggies within a pair at 4-2.
  • The game became a nail-biter with 4:22 to go in the fourth quarter as Marglon beat Campbell with a power-play bid to make it 4-3 and put the Aggies on the cusp of a successful comeback.
  • However, the Florida defense stiffened and stifled UC-Davis’ final try with 43 seconds left on the clock to allow the Gators to run out the remainder and celebrate its inaugural water polo National Championship.
  • For Florida – which fielded a roster of 14 players exclusively from the Sunshine State without an athlete from perennial water polo hotbed California – Martin led the way with a pair.  Zwicker and Iglesias accounted for the remainder of their team’s limited offense.
  • Marglon keyed the Aggies with a pair of markers to accompany Jackson’s solo strike.  Crouch took the loss with four saves as she stopped a shot in the first quarter, two more in the third and the Gators’ lead offensive try on cage in the fourth.
  • 2019 marked Florida’s 14th appearance at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship as the Gators hold 14-of-19 Southeast Division titles and have never finished outside the Top 10 at the National Club tournament by placing second (2001, 2006), third (2002, 2004, 2012, 2018), fourth (2003, 2016), fifth (2000, 2011), seventh (2008), eighth (2014) and ninth (2005, 2007) leading up to their championship season.
  • The team’s run to the title went through both the No. 1 and 2 teams in the country as the Gators topped Atlantic Division Champion the University of Virginia (13-0 W) to open the tournament on Friday, May 3, before striking down North Atlantic Division Champion/Division III No. 2 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (11-3 W) in the quarterfinals on Saturday, May 4.  In the semifinals later that evening, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019 Southeast Division Champion Florida never trailed against the Mustangs of seven-time National Champion (2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) and five-time runner-up (2002, 2007, 2012, 2017, 2018)/Pacific Coast Division Champion/No. 1 California Polytechnic State University (9-7 W).
  • The run was unique as Florida never trailed for a minute against either Virginia, MIT, Cal Poly or UC-Davis to take the crown and the title of National Champion for the 2019 season.
  • The 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018 Sierra Pacific Division Champion Aggies see their reign as back-to-back National Champions come to an end as UC-Davis won agains Cal Poly in 2017 (9-8 W by UC-Davis at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.) and 2018 (5-4 W UC-Davis at Mt. Hood Community College, Gresham, Ore.).
  • The loss brings a close to the Aggies quest to join Cal Poly (2003, 2004, 2005 / 2008, 2009, 2010) as the only teams in women’s collegiate club history to capture three consecutive National Championships.
  • UC-Davis now stands at 4-2 in National Championship games as the Aggies fell to Cal Poly (6-2 L) in 2011 when Notre Dame first hosted the event prior to topping Cal Poly (2012, 2-1 W at Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla.) and the University of Central Florida (2013, 6-5 W at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.) before downing Cal Poly in back-to-back wins (2017, 9-8 W at Pittsburgh; 2018, 5-4 W at Mt. Hood Community College).
  • Following the conclusion of the National Championship game, the All-Tournament honors were announced as Campbell garnered Most Valuable Player and Florida head coach Katie Larson claimed Coach of the Tournament notice.  The award marks Larson’s second consecutive Coach of the Tournament plaque as she earned the 2018 honor at Mt. Hood Community College for leading the Gators to a Third Place finish:
2019 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship All-Tournament Team
Most Valuable Player: Mary Campbell (University of Florida)
Coach of the Tournament: Katie Larson (University of Florida)
First Team
Mary Campbell (Goalie) University of Florida
Kelly Martin University of Florida
Carmen Steinmeier University of California-Davis
Dallyce Marglon University of California-Davis
Emily Milton California Polytechnic State University
Shelby Vidmar Fresno State University
Marissa Wyan San Diego State University
Second Team
Cassidy Crouch (Goalie) University of California-Davis
Stephanie Zwicker University of Florida
Phoebe Iglesias University of Florida
Mary Elizabeth Ward University of Washington
Karli Stone University of Washington
Heather Clark Boston College
Maddie David California Polytechnic State University
Jordan Card Colorado School of Mines
Hanna Muller Lindenwood University
Colleen Boensel San Diego State University

 

1st Q 2nd Q 3rd Q 4th Q FINAL
University of Florida 1 3 0 0 4
University of California-Davis 1 0 1 1 3
UC-Davis Goals: Dallyce Marglon (2); Hailey Jackson
Florida Goals: Kelly Martin (2); Stephanie Zwicker; Phoebe Iglesias
Saves: UC-Davis – Cassidy Crouch (4) ; Florida – Mary Campbell (10)
Exclusions: UC-Davis – 10 ; Florida – 6
Advantage Opportunities: UC-Davis – 2-for-6 ; Florida – 1-for-10
Sprints: UC-Davis – 4-for-4 ; Florida – 0-for-4
Cards/Misconducts: None
Officials: Gregg Emde; Scott Voltz

 

University of California-Davis’ Sydney Preston (#7) defends against the University of Florida’s Phoebe Iglesias (#3)

University of Florida’s Mary Campbell (#1)

University of California-Davis’ Carolyn Rieber (#8) attempts to slide around the University of Florida’s Stephanie Zwicker (#4)

2019 Women’s National Collegiate Club Champion the University of Florida celebrates the victory

2019 Women’s National Collegiate Club Champion: University of Florida

2019 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship Runner-up: University of California-Davis

2019 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship Third Place: San Diego State University

2019 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship Most Valuable Player: Mary Campbell (University of Florida)

2019 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship Coach of the Tournament: Katie Larson (and husband/assistant coach Tim Larson – University of Florida)

2019 University of Florida Graduates: Emily Stevenson, Mariana Lombello, Jessica Modrak, Hayley Suraci & Emily Fennell

Collegiate Water Polo Association