University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa attacker Lucia Gomez de la Puente was named the Big West Women’s Water Polo Player of the Week, giving the second-ranked Rainbow Wahine three consecutive conference awards to open the season. The Big West Player of the Week award is the first of Gomez de la Puente’s career.
She accounted for 19 points with 11 goals and eight assists in the Triton Invitational. Gomez de la Puente, a senior from Madrid, Spain, opened the Triton Invitational by scoring three goals and assisting on four more in a 21-7 rout of San Diego State on February 2. She posted another hat trick with two assists on February 3 in a 14-9 win over UC Davis. Gomez de la Puente then tied her season and career high with four goals in UH’s 13-12 overtime loss to UCLA in the semifinals. She closed the road trip with another goal and two assists to help UH knock off USC for the first time since 2006 and post a win over a No. 1-ranked opponent for the second time this season.
Coming off their performance in the Triton Invitational, the Rainbow Wahine (8-1) rose two spots to No. 2 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Women’s Varsity Top 25 released on Wednesday. UH received 94 points in the poll to trail only UCLA (100 points) and reached its highest ranking in the CWPA poll in program history.
