SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Santa Clara women's water polo opens the 2016 season on the road with a matchup at Cal St. Monterey Bay Saturday at noon.

Last season, the Broncos beat the Otters 10-3 on the road.

Saturday marks the start of head coach Keith Wilbur's 14th season. He has four seniors on the current roster - goalkeeper Sydni Estrella, utility Elizabeth Anderson, driver Erin Sheridan, 2-meter defender Elle Surber - to lean on for leadership.

"I think we have a good returning core from last year," Wilbur said. "All four seniors were starters last year, and I think they have all upped their games.  Both of our goalies have been playing very well in practice, and if that translates to our goalie play in games, that will be great for our team.  I also think we have a solid freshman class, and I see them making big contributions this year.  The team is showing good chemistry, they are fun to coach, and everybody is excited to start playing games."

This season the Broncos will try to improve on a fifth-place finish in the Golden Coast Conference (GCC), where they upset Azusa Pacific with a final score of 11-8.

"Our goal is to win our conference and break into the Top 20 National Rankings," Wilbur commented on the team's plans for the season. "One of my goals for our team is more consistent play.  Last year, we played at a very high level for some stretches, but we also had some rough patches.  If we can maintain a high level of play throughout the year, this will help us with seeding for conference playoffs, and then we have to have a great tournament to win because all the teams in our conference look to be very strong this year."

Surber scored 49 goals last season and led the team in assists (44) and steals (51). Anderson led the Broncos in earned ejections (64) while contributing 43 goals. Estrella returns as goalkeeper after saving 237 shots last season.

After the matchup with Cal St. Monterey Bay, the Broncos will face Cal St. East Bay on Saturday, Feb. 6.