FRESNO, Calif. - The No. 6 Fresno State water polo team heads south to face No. 4 UCLA in a nonconference matchup on Saturday.
No. 6 Fresno State (7-5, 1-0 GCC) at No. 4 UCLA (10-3, 1-0 MPSF)
March 1, 2025 - 1 P.M. PT - Los Angeles, Calif. - Spieker Aquatics Center
Series History: UCLA leads, 8-0
Last Meeting: UCLA def. FS 18-14 at Cal Cup, Jan. 25, 2025
MEDIA COVERAGE
Stream: Overnght
Live Stats: 6-8 Scores
X (Twitter): @FresnoStateWP
Bulldog Bones
Fresno State opened Golden Coast Conference play last weekend with a 20-6 win over CUI, but will take a brief break from conference play to head to UCLA this weekend.
The Bulldogs will face UCLA for the second time this season, looking for redemption after an 18-14 loss at the Cal Cup in January. That matchup, UCLA was the No. 1 team in the national rankings.
Fresno State looks for its first-ever win against UCLA.
Saturday's game will be the Bulldogs' 11th game this season against a ranked opponent, and the fifth against a Top 5 team.
Saturday's game is the last nonconference regular season game of the season.
Fresno State head coach Natalie Benson is a graduate and former player at UCLA. Benson played for the Bruins from 2001-05, and was a three-time National Champion. Benson was awarded the Cutino Award in 2005, earning the National Player of the Year recognition.
Fresno State sees another week atop the GCC in the national rankings, moving up one spot to No. 6 this week. LMU checks in at No. 12, San Diego State is No. 20, CBU is No. 22 and Pacific is No. 24.
Fresno State has played three overtime games this season, and are 2-1 in those contests. The three overtime games are the most in a single season for Fresno State. The Bulldogs are 7-4 all-time in overtime matchups.
The Bulldogs have scored 10 or more goals in all but one game this season.
Welcome to the 100 Club
Fresno State senior, but second-year Bulldog, Abbey Simshauser became the fastest player in program history to score 100 career goals. Simshauser scored five goals in the conference opener last weekend, with her fifth being her 100th of her Bulldog career. The transfer Bulldog hit the 100 goal mark in her 41st career game, becoming the fastest player to 100 goals.
This season Simshauser has scored 28 goals, dished 11 assists, notched 22 drawn exclusions and 14 steals. She is third on the team in scoring.
The three at the top
Ahead of Simshauser is the duo that completes the trio in junior Hailey Andress and senior Brooke Ochoa. Andress leads the team with 39 goals while Ochoa is close by with 35. For the last two seasons, the trio of Simshauser, Andress and Ochoa have led the way for the Bulldogs as dominant offensive players in both scoring and the ability to move the ball. All three have earned All-Conference and All-American honors in their career. The 2025 season has been no different as they look to lead Fresno State to its fifth straight GCC title.
The three are also all in the record book, in various statistical categories. Fresno State has had six player all-time score 100 career goals, and Andress, Ochoa and Simshauser are three of those six.
#2 in the pool, but #1 on the statsheet
Andress leads the team with 39 goals. She is shooting at a 52 percent clip with 75 shot attempts on the year. Andress also adds 10 assists and 11 steals, three field blocks and two drawn exclusions. She has an active streak of 17 games with at least one goal.
Andress record book watch – the junior already has a team-high nine hat tricks on the year to bring her career total to 31, setting the program record for most career hat tricks. She has scored 165 goals in her career, and currently sits fourth all-time in the program record book.
Andress currently ranks third in the conference in scoring.
Brooke, the OG, Ochoa
Ochoa is one of the oldest, and most experienced players on the Bulldogs' roster this season. She has appeared in 95 career games, the third-most by a player in program history.
Ochoa currently ties for the team lead with 13 assists in 12 games this season.
Queen of the drawn exclusion
For the second year in a row, Ashley Williams has paced the team in drawn exclusions. When the program graduated the second all-time leader Jillian Schiltz in 2023, Williams wasted no time filling in her shoes.
In 12 games, Williams has a team-high 30 drawn exclusions. She is up to 92 in her career, already the third-most by a player in program history behind the all-time leader Emily Nicholson (376) and Schultz (102).
Welcome to the chat, freshman
Marit van der Kolk has not wasted any time joining the program and contributing as a true freshman. Playing in all 12 games of the season, she has totaled nine goals, five assists, three drawn exclusions, five steals and two field blocks.
Van der Kolk has gone for a 18-3 sprint record so far this season. She is currently second in the GCC in sprint wins, but leads the conference with a .857 win percentage.
GCC Flashback
Fresno State returns as the reigning Golden Coast Champions, for the fourth year in a row. The Bulldogs have been the tournament champion for four-straight years, and the regular season champion in three of the last four years.
In regular season play, Fresno State has only lost two regular season GCC games in the last four years.
Fresno State has an all-time record of 35-9 in Golden Coast Conference play, and is 27-2 in the last four seasons.