No. 3 UCLA will begin its 2026 women’s water polo season at the Brigitte Donner Daws Memorial Invitational in Berkeley, California, on January 24-25. The team will face No. 9 Fresno State on Sunday morning and No. 6 Long Beach State later that day at the Spieker Aquatics Complex. Exhibition games against No. 4 California and No. 1 Stanford are scheduled for Saturday. All tournament matches will be streamed live on Overnght.com, with live statistics available via the 6-8 Sports platform.
The Bruins have a strong record against both of their opening opponents, having won all previous nine meetings with Fresno State and all twenty-seven encounters with Long Beach State. Last season, UCLA defeated Fresno State twice—18-14 at the California Cup (now renamed as this week’s event) and 24-11 in their home opener—and beat Long Beach State 12-7 at the same tournament.
Key players returning for UCLA include six All-Americans from last year’s roster: senior utility Anna Pearson, junior goalkeeper Lauren Steele, redshirt senior attacker Emma Lineback, senior center Bia Mantellato, senior utility Genoa Rossi, and senior attacker Taylor Smith. Several of these athletes also earned conference honors last season.
UCLA brings back three experienced goalkeepers—Lauren Steele, Izzy Rosensitto, and Joey Niz—and adds six true freshmen along with three redshirt freshmen to the squad this year. The roster is further strengthened by three transfers: Janna Tauscher from California, Zoë Frangieh from Arizona State, and Fanni Muzsnay from USC.
The coaching staff has undergone changes for the new season as Adam Wright steps away from his role as head coach of the women’s team in 2026. Jason Falitz and Matt Kubeck have been named interim Co-Head Coaches; an assistant coach appointment is expected soon.
In review of last season, UCLA finished with a record of 20 wins and six losses overall (5-1 in MPSF play), securing third place in national rankings and tying for third in the NCAA Championship after falling to Stanford in overtime during the MPSF final and then to USC in the NCAA semifinals.
Entering this season, UCLA holds steady at No. 3 in the CWPA National Women’s Varsity Top 25 Poll released January 21.
