Senior Day, MPSF Seeding Highlight Big Splash

STANFORD, Calif. - No. 2 Stanford (10-1, 4-1 MPSF) hosts rival No. 4 California (13-4, 3-2 MPSF) on Saturday, April 4, in a 1 p.m. start at Avery Aquatic Center in the latest edition of the Big Splash.

There is only one scenario in which the Cardinal earns the No. 1 seed in next week's MPSF Championship: (1) a win against California + (2) UCLA defeats USC by exactly one goal + (3) USC scores no more than eight goals.

Stanford has dominated the rivalry series, winning 22 of the last 27 matchups against California over the last 12 seasons. The Cardinal has already defeated the Golden Bears this season, prevailing 14-7 in the semifinals of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational on Feb. 14. Jenna Flynn and Sienna Green scored four goals apiece in the victory while Christine Carpenter matched a season best with 11 saves in goal.

• Maggie Hawkins and Jackie King will be honored in a postgame Senior Day ceremony on Saturday. The senior tandem has led Stanford to a 78-10 overall record and 18-5 MPSF record spanning four seasons. Hawkins and King are two-time NCAA champions (2023, 2025) and two-time MPSF champions (2023, 2025) while owning a 20-1 record in games played at Avery Aquatic Center.

• Stanford relied on a balanced offensive performance to defeat No. 10 Indiana 16-4 on March 28 in its final road contest of the regular season. Six days after suffering its only loss of the season, Stanford regrouped quickly and dominated Indiana from start to finish. Kamryn Barone and Juliette Dhalluin led the way with hat tricks, powering an offense that featured goals from nine different players as the Cardinal scored at least 15 goals for the seventh time this season. Serena Browne, Jenna Flynn and Ella Woodhead contributed multi-goal games for the Cardinal, which scored in every quarter while holding the Hoosiers scoreless for the first half.

• Stanford's 9-1 record includes two wins over UCLA, with dominant fourth-quarter defensive performances a common theme in both matches. During a 10-9 road victory on March 7, Stanford limited UCLA to one goal over the final eight minutes and none in the final 4:56. Juliette Dhalluin scored a game-high four goals – three coming off penalty shots – while Jenna Flynn added a hat trick and the go-ahead goal with 3:47 remaining in the final period. Stanford's 8-7 victory on Feb. 15 came in the final of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational, as the Cardinal secured its fourth tournament title in five seasons and eighth in school history. Stanford, which won the game despite being held scoreless in the fourth quarter, received a hat trick from Flynn, two goals from Dhalluin and eight saves from Christine Carpenter.

• Jenna Flynn (37 goals, 18 assists, 68 shots, 10 multi-goal games, 8 hat tricks) and Juliette Dhalluin (33 goals, 24 assists, 55 shots, 11 multi-goal games, 7 hat tricks) have been pacing the offense, combining for three MPSF/Delfina Player of the Week honors so far this season. Stanford has scored at least 15 goals in seven of its 10 games, including a season-high output in a 23-11 win over Long Beach State on Jan. 24. Elite depth has been a key part of the team's success, with the Cardinal boasting at least 10 different goal scorers in four contests.

• The Cardinal features four players with significant international experience. Jenna Flynn (United States), Juliette Dhalluin (France) and Serena Browne (Canada) represented their country at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. Last summer, the Cardinal added a fourth in Sienna Green (Australia), a 2024 Olympic silver medalist and All-American transfer from UCLA who totaled 50 goals in two seasons.

• Stanford’s already-decorated coaching staff also got even stronger this summer, with the most revered and accomplished player in the history of women’s water polo returning to The Farm. Joining the staff as associate head coach is Brenda Villa, one of only two four-time Olympic medalists (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) who won 20 medals overall in her playing career representing Team USA. A three-time All-American and Hall of Famer who led the Cardinal to its first NCAA title in 2002, Villa became Stanford’s first Peter J. Cutino Award recipient and was later named the Female Water Polo Player of the Decade (2000-09) by FINA Aquatics World Magazine.

• The nation's only program to have participated at every NCAA Championship since the event's inception, Stanford put the finishing touches on a dominant campaign in 2025. In addition to producing one of only four 15-0 starts in school history, the Cardinal recorded three wins apiece against fellow contenders USC and UCLA while holding the nation’s No. 1 ranking for most of the season. Stanford also captured both the NCAA and MPSF crowns in the same season for the fourth time in school history (2025, 2023, 2022, 2014).