The No. 6 University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa women’s water polo team captured its third win of the season, with a 22-7 victory over visiting No. 25 Marist College on the final day of the Rainbow Invitational on January 15 at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
Each of the three wins for the Rainbow Wahine (3-0) over the weekend was against top-25 squads, and they will continue their stretch of top-tier opponents with No. 7 University of Michigan coming up on January 21.
UH led the match against the Red Foxes in an overwhelming point lead every quarter, including a 7-2 advantage after the first. UH started on a scoring streak kickstarted by freshman center Bia Mantellato Dias, followed by senior Alba Bonamusa Boix, junior Lot Stertefeld and sophomore Jordan Wedderburn.
Throughout the match, Mantellato Dias dominated as she added four points to her impressive scoresheet tallying three goals and an assist, giving her a total of 12 goals scored and two assists during the entire Rainbow Invitational.
Joining Mantellato Dias with three goals on the day were Bonamusa Boix and freshman Raha Peiravani, but leading the way on the day for the second consecutive match was Stertefeld with four goals. Sterefeld shot a perfect 4-for-4 on the day, finishing the weekend with 11 goals and five assists.
As a team, UH shot .579 from the field of play, concluding the weekend with a final shot percentage of .491, compared to their opponents, who hit a combined .309.
