On Saturday the LMU women’s water polo team played APU in their last home game of the season. They won 15-5 and walked away Golden Coast Conference (GCC) regular season champions — the first time they won the title since 2015.
With their 25-2 record this season, and on Friday will enter the conference tournament as the first seed.
“This game really showed that we are putting all the pieces together right now,” said graduate student Maddie Davis. “It’s been a long and hard season with a bunch of tournaments and games, but we are ready and prepared to go into the conference.”
Last year the team made it to the conference semifinals before losing 7-9 against University of the Pacific, a memory still fresh in the minds of many players and second-year head coach Ikaika Aki. Ikaika is a LMU alum who played four seasons on the men’s water polo team. He redshirted his freshman year in 2006, but played in every game from 2007-2010. During his four years playing at LMU the men’s team were WWPA champions and made it to the NCAA tournament for men’s water polo.
“What I’m excited about with this group is that we’re feeling really energetic and excited going into the finals,” Ikaika said.
“This game really showed that we are putting all the pieces together right now,” said graduate student Maddie Davis while commenting on their game against APU. “It’s been a long and hard season with a bunch of tournaments and games, but we are ready and prepared to go into the conference.” The team played in four tournaments this season, which started in January, and only lost two games throughout the months. Their dedication has paid off immensely this season and they have “been taking everything one game at a time,” said Ikaika.