2013 UCSB Winter Invite Home Page
VIDEO: Santa Clara's Alison Norris and coach Keith Wilbur preview the weekend
Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Top 20

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Santa Clara University women's water polo team followed up Saturday's impressive start to its 2013 season by knocking off Concordia 11-9 at the UCSB Winter Invite in Santa Barbara on Sunday morning. 

Senior Alison Norris (Saratoga, Calif. / Saratoga) had four goals to pace the Broncos against Concordia. Norris' final score was the game-clincher, giving SCU a two-goal advantage with 1:15 remaining. 

"Honestly, I did not think (the Concordia) game was our best game down here on the weekend, but we did what we had to do to get the win. It was a grind-it-out type of game," said Santa Clara head coach Keith Wilbur. "It's good to get that first win under your belt. We played three top-20 teams and we showed improvement over each game." 

"Concordia has two really good two-meter players and our two-meter defenders, Laura Burtness and Elle Surber, did a good job of shutting them down. That was key to winning the game although it's something that may not show up on the stat sheet," added Wilbur.  

Jamie Swartz (San Diego, Calif. / Scripps Ranch) had six steals during the win over Concordia while teammate Claire Eadington (Corona Del Mar / Corona Del Mar) added three. Freshman Julia Peters (San Jose, Calif. / Presentation) drew a pair of kick outs and a penalty shot. Redshirt sophomore Kaitlin Murphy (Carlsbad, Calif. / Carlsbad) drew three kick outs as well. 

Santa Clara (1-3) played three ranked opponents during the weekend overall, wrapping up tournament play with strong defensive effort against No. 6 UC Irvine Sunday afternoon despite the eventual 9-2 decision in favor of the Anteaters. 

"We did a lot of good things (against UCI), especially defensively," said Wilbur. "We had given up 14 and 16 yesterday and we held both teams today below 10. Against Irvine we drew quite a few kick outs, which is a good sign, moving and working against their defense. We actually drew more kicks outs then them, but did not capitalize on our 6-on-5 chances." 

Up next for the Broncos is the team's home-opener against No. 12 Hawaii on Friday, Feb. 1 at 3:30 p.m. SCU will then go down to play Monterey to face Cal State Monterey Bay and Fresno Pacific Saturday, Feb. 2. 

For the very latest on Santa Clara men's and women's water polo follow the Broncos on Twitter (@SCUPolo). 

UC Santa Barbara Winter Invitational

DAY 3 – January 27

Santa Clara vs. Concordia

Santa Clara Goals: Elizabeth Anderson, Julia Peters (2), Claire Eadington (2), Elle Surber (2), Alison Norris (4)
Santa Clara Saves: Stephanie Clements (3) 

Concordia Goals: Kathryn Manderino, Jamie Clark, Haley Ring, Sarah Johnson, Hannah Bennett (2), Chelsea Harrod (3)
Concordia Saves: Karen Gurske (8)

#6 UC Irvine vs. Santa Clara

UCI Goals: Taylor Morrison (3) McKenna Mitchell (2) Layne Kipp (2) Kelsey Klatt, Kelsey Thornton
UCI Saves: Jilian Yocum (3) Annika Nelson (3)

Santa Clara Goals: Alison Norris, Elizabeth Anderson
Santa Clara Saves: June Afshar (4), Sydni Estrella (1) 

DAY 2 – January 26

Santa Clara vs. #19 UC San Diego

Santa Clara Goals: Alison Norris (2) Kaitlin Murphy (2) Erin Sheridan, Julia Peters, Claire Eadington, Laura Burtness
Santa Clara Saves: Stephanie Clements (10)

Recreation Center Pool

Santa Clara vs. #8 Loyola Marymount