CMS Women's Water Polo Defeats Caltech 20-5, Edged by Brown 12-11

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's water polo team rolled to a 20-5 win over Caltech in a SCIAC game on Saturday morning, and then dropped a close 12-11 decision to Brown in the afternoon at Axelrood Pool.

With the split, CMS now stands at 12-8 on the season, including 4-1 in SCIAC contests. 

Valerie Wraith led CMS with five goals in the Caltech win, while Isabel Del Villar had four goals and two assists and Grace Clark had a hat trick. In the nightcap, Del Villar added four more goals, while Wraith had three goals and an assist. 

CMS got off to a slow start against Caltech, with the score tied 3-3 late in the first quarter, but the Athenas scored 15 goals in a row to pull ahead 18-3 late in the third. Clark and Wraith scored to close out the first quarter and put CMS ahead 5-3, and Wraith had two goals in a 7-0 second quarter that gave CMS a 12-3 lead going into the break. 

Elise Power had two goals for the Athenas, while Xochitl Ortega, Cassandra Ruedy, Olivia Cairns, Mia Adsen, Caitlin Muñoz and Cooper McKenna also had goals.

In the Brown game, CMS trailed 8-5 at the half and got the lead down to a single goal four times, but could not pull even. DelVillar had a goal with 30 seconds left to make it 12-11, and the shot clock was turned off for the final Brown possession.

Mia Adsen came up with a steal in the closing seconds to give CMS a chance at a dramatic tie, but the Athenas weren't able to convert on one last desperation attempt after a timeout with one second left. 

CMS will be back in action on Wednesday when it travels to Occidental before returning home to face Redlands on Saturday.