MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — For the third year in a row, Biola Women's Water Polo is headed to the final match of the Western Water Polo Association Championships.
The Eagles beat CSU Monterey Bay 16-9 in the semifinals to clinch their chance at a three-peat. Biola improved to 3-0 on the season against the Otters and made their statement with the traditional stifling defense, especially in 5-on-6 scenarios, where CSUMB was just 2-for-11.
CSU Monterey Bay came out firing and went up 2-0 in the first 56 seconds of game time. Then the Eagles took a breath and centered their focus on defense to flip the match on its head. Biola came up with stop after stop after stop, holding the Otters without a goal for 14-and-a-half minutes as they scored eight in a row to take a commanding lead.
The Otters took advantage of a few mental lapses late in the second period to grab two goals in 13 seconds and cut the lead to 8-4 at the half. Biola used goals from Gwen Pidd and Lizzy Birch to extend back out to a six-goal lead coming out of the break. That goal from Pidd was one of five on the afternoon for the freshman. Birch scored one, set up one and led the charge for BU defensively.
Alicia Fregoso played the full 32 for acting head coach Elyssa Hawkins and was on fire. She brought back memories of her 2024 WWPA Championship effort with a 13-block effort, holding the Otters virtually scoreless from the perimeter. She also grabbed a handful of steals to help create counterattack offense for BU.
"It's such a blessing to be here and to be able to have the chance to defend the championship," said Fregoso. "It is so hard to win consecutively. We are very grateful to be here together as a team."
A five-goal advantage was as narrow as things got for BU as they cruised through the second half and were able to rotate in a lot of players throughout. The Eagles are playing their best water polo of the season at this tournament, once again setting a widest margin of victory in their third win over a conference foe. In the previous two matches this season Biola defeated CSUMB by two goals and then by three goals.
The freshmen tandem of Pidd and Destiny Moreno accounted for half of Biola's goals in this one. Moreno had a hat trick, giving her two hat tricks this season. Pidd has now scored three or more five times this year.
"It is a little nerve-wracking [with the expectations], but I feel like God brought me to just the right place as the girls have really helped me rise to the occasion," said Pidd.
Ava LoBue and Mia Mulhall both had multiple scores as well. Mulhall scored twice and assisted twice and LoBue tied Pidd for the team-lead with 6 points on two goals and four assists.
As it turns its attention to championship Sunday, Biola will face a McKendree Bearcats team that punched its ticket for the championship match for the very first time. McKendree dominated the other semifinal, defeating Fresno Pacific 16-10. The Bearcats are the No. 1 seed out East and hold an impressive 20-7 overall record in 2025.
"It is always nerve-wracking but it is helpful that we have good camaraderie as a team," said Fregoso. "We have peace going into it. Whatever happens we know we did our best. We will push and be hungry for the victory."
