CMS Women's Water Polo Advances to National Finals with 20-9 Win over Augustana

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - Mia Adsen and Cooper McKenna each scored four goals as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's water polo team defeated host Augustana in the semifinals of the USA Water Polo Division III National Championships on Saturday at Anne Greve Lund Natatorium.

With the win, CMS moves to 19-10 on the season and advances through to face Pomona-Pitzer, which defeated Austin College 20-4 in the other semifinal. The two teams will meet just one week after Pomona-Pitzer pulled away late for a 9-5 win in the SCIAC Championship match on Sunday. 

The Athenas led 3-1 late in the first quarter, but outscored Augustana 5-0 over the next 10 minutes to take a commading 8-2 lead into halftime. McKenna started the run with the final goal of the first quarter, and Isabel Del Villar opened the second quarter with a goal to make it 5-1. After Adsen scored to make it 6-1, Elise Power and Christina Kulick capped off the 5-0 run to push the lead to 8-1. 

Augustana scored the final goal of the first half, but CMS scored the first four goals of the second half to build a 10-goal lead, as Adsen, Kulick, Grace Clark and Power all had goals in succession. 

Kulick and Del Villar each had three goals and an assist, and Clark had two goals and two assists, as the Athenas had five players tie for team-high honors with four points apiece. Jessi Beyer and Caitlin Munoz each had a goal and two assists, and Power had two goals. Mason Spencer got the win in the cage with five saves and four steals in 16 minutes of work, while Natalie Stearns added three saves in the second half. 

CMS will meet Pomona-Pitzer tomorrow at 12 noon for the USA Water Polo Division III Championship. The Sagehens defeated Whittier last year in the inaugural season for the event, which was introduced in 2019, but canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.