April 19, 2001

SOLANO, CA - The No. 4-ranked women's water polo team (16-7, 8-3 MPSF) ended its regular season with a 12-4 win over the UC Davis Aggies (17-10) at the Chris Kjeldsen Pool. The Bears nearly duplicated their last 12-3 victory over the Aggies, Feb. 17.

Brenna Fleener led all scorers with three goals, notching her sixth hat trick of the season for the Bears. In addition, this was the fifth time this season that Fleener has led Cal in scoring. The Bears got off to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter behind goals from Julia Cesnik, Ericka Lorenz and Brenna Fleener, before Julie Arnold put the ball away with just nine seconds to play in the quarter.

The Bears opened up the second quarter, scoring on their first possession from Cesnik in the 2-meter spot. The Aggies would tally their first goal of the game, scoring on a man-up possession on a shot from Mary Dentice, who led the Aggies with two goals on the game. Cal would answer with three more goals, as Beth Irwin got on the scoreboard with 4:09 left in the half, before Lorenz and Fleener tallied another for the Bears. Fleener would fire her goal past the Aggies' Alexis Muecke with nine seconds left.

The Aggies and the Bears would both tally two goals in the third quarter, yet the lead would be too great to overcome for UC Davis. Heather Petri scored on the Bears first possession of the half, before Fleener scored her third goal of the game two possessions later.

Irwin opened up the fourth quarter with a goal at the 6:09 mark, before Cal's reserves saw some action in the water. Redshirt freshman Ashley Miller scored the Bears last goal of the match, firing a penalty shot past Davis goalie Trisha Quan with 1:47 remaining in the game. The goal was Miller's fourth of the season.

The Bears will now prepare for a tough scenario when they travel to the MPSF tournament in Hawaii next week, April 27-29. The odds are stacked against Cal, as this year's NCAA tournament will only feature two teams from the West Coast, as opposed to the four from the previous five years of postseason play. The MPSF tournament winner will get an automatic bid, and an at-large team will also be invited. With Stanford holding down an undefeated record, they will most likely receive the at-large bid, which means Cal will have to win the tournament for a chance at a national championship.

Final Results

		1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
California	4	4	2	2	12
UC Davis	0	1	2	1	4

Goals:
California-Brenna Fleener 3, Beth Irwin 2, Ericka Lorenz 2,
Julia Cesnik 2, Julie Arnold, Heather Petri, Ashley Miller.
UC Davis-Mary Dentice 2, Kim Parker, Anne Harter

Saves:
California-Fana Fuqua, 4 saves (3 Quarters),
Lauren Dennis, 1 save (1 Quarter)
UC Davis-Alexis Muecke, 7 saves (3 Quarters),
Trisha Quan 2 saves (1 Quarter)