LA MIRADA, Calif. — Years of preparation and planning come to a head this weekend as Biola Women's Water Polo lifts the lid on its inaugural varsity season competing in the Western Water Polo Association.
The Eagles, led by Head Coach Sarah Orozco, are ready to make their mark on west coast water polo while they get going at the Long Beach State Beach Invite. It's the first day of a season which could end in glory with a WWPA Championship and NCAA tournament berth.
"We are ready for this first time ride and we hope to have as many victories as God allows, both individually and as a team," said Orozco. "Our goal this year is to establish ourselves as an NCAA Division II program as we size ourselves up against other D1, D2 and D3 teams as well as in our WWPA conference!"
Orozco has high hopes for a team which set its priority on first building a strong emotional, spiritual and relational foundation through its work this fall. She's put together a deep and talented first-year team spearheaded by captains Rachel Spadt, Hanna Jordan and Samantha Rainey.
The mission of the team is to equip and empower great women in mind, body and character to impact the world for Christ. The Eagles will get the opportunity to do so during this inaugural campaign, which has a schedule built with 85 percent of its opponents being non faith-based institutions.
"We look forward to having major contributions from our whole team as the team rises to the occasion," said Orozco.
Biola's opening weekend takes them down to Long Beach before returning to the friendly confines of SPLASH! La Mirada Regional Aquatics Center for the program's first-ever home match on January 28. The Eagles host Big West opponent UC Santa Barbara at 1 p.m. The Gauchos went 3-5 last season in a shortened season following a 12-8 start to 2020's shortened spring season.
That is one of five true home matches for BU, with other matchups at SPLASH including Concordia Irvine, Fresno Pacific, CSU Monterey Bay and the Cornerstone Cup rivalry with Azusa Pacific (the team Orozco coached from 2016-2020).
The APU home match is absolutely one to circle on the schedule as the Eagles and Cougars go toe-to-toe for the first time in a countable contest. The matchup is scheduled for Tuesday, March 8 at 1 p.m.
"We look forward to finally having a game against Azusa Pacific University," said Orozco. "Our coaching staff is honored to lead a team where we get to build relationships amongst great women through the sport of water polo that inspire transformation in mind, body, and character to impact the world for Christ."
The Eagles also have two other local contests that are pseudo-home events. The Eagles host assistant coach Ana Miroslavic's University of Toronto team for an exhibition at Sage High School in Huntington Beach in late-February and also have a neutral-site game against Brown at the Brenda Villa Aquatic Center in Commerce on the final day in March.
Biola will play conference matches against the fellow California members of the Western Water Polo Association (Fresno Pacific, CSU Monterey Bay CSU East Bay) in hopes to seed well for the season-ending WWPA tournament hosted by Fresno Pacific in late-April.
The WWPA tournament brings together the California teams and the East Coast sides (Salem, Mercyhurst, Gannon, McKendree), with the winner of the tournament earning a berth in the NCAA postseason.
"We are excited and set to launch our first official women's water polo season ever at Biola University this January," said Orozco. "Our team continues to grow and show constant resilience and endurance as they come together to develop a team growth mindset…in order to really seek to understand one another as we look to create healthy boundaries and live out our foundational team values."
Biola Women's Water Polo was picked to finish seventh in the preseason WWPA Coaches' Poll announced Thursday. The team's first WWPA match is March 11 against CSU East Bay at Loyola Marymount. CSUEB was picked second and received three first-place votes.
