For the second year in a row, the University of Hawai‘i water polo team advanced to the Final Four with an 8-7 win over Cal in Indianapolis on Friday.
The Rainbow Wahine improved to 22-4 overall for the 2025 season and advance to play No. 1 Stanford on Saturday at 6 a.m. HST.
UH jumped out to a 4-0 lead on Friday, only to see the Golden Bears take a 6-5 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The 'Bows stormed back with three goals in the final period, while Cal made the final deficit closer with a Miriam Bogachenko goal with nine seconds remaining.
Bernadette Doyle, Alia Burlock, Ema Vernoux and Camille Radosavljevic all scored two goals each for the Rainbow Wahine. For Cal, Eszter Varro had a match-high three goals.
"Obviously, very exciting game," Hawai‘i head coach James Robinson following the contest. "A lot of credit to Cal for the season, awesome opponent anytime we get the opportunity to play against them. Super stoked for these girls and the rest of the team. Talk about resiliency, being able to play that fourth quarter and make stop after stop. Really, really proud of that result."
The Rainbow Wahine previously defeated Cal 12-11 at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational on Feb. 22 in Irvine Calif., though the Golden Bears were the team that eliminated the Rainbow Wahine from the national semifinals in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Meanwhile, Stanford defeated the Rainbow Wahine 12-7 on Jan. 18 at the Fresno State Polo-Palooza. The 'Bows are 1-37 all-time against the Cardinal, its lone win a 9-7 overtime victory in 2024. Hawai‘i water polo has never reached an NCAA final and will play for the opportunity to do so on Saturday.
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
