April 28, 2001
Top-seed Stanford (24-0) found little trouble against No. 8 San Diego State (19-14), scoring the first five goals of the match and cruising to an 11-3 win. The Cardinal led at the half 7-1. Hilary Gallogly led the Cardinal in scoring with three goals, followed by Margie Dingeldein, Anne-Marie Keenan, and Brenda Villa, who each had two goals. Jackie Frank collected eight saves in goal for the Cardinal.
The other top seeds also won convincingly in the quarterfinals of the 2001 MPSF Women's Water Polo Championships at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex. In the first quarterfinal match, junior Julia Cesnik exploded for five goals to lead the No. 4 Golden Bears (17-7) to an 8-4 win over No. 5 San Jose State (14-11). UCLA (15-3) was even more dominating in its win, routing No. 7 UC Santa Barbara, 17-3. Attacker Maureen Flanagan led the Bruins with five goals. No. 3 USC (27-3), meanwhile notched a commanding 12-1 win over No. 6 Hawai`i (21-8). Rebecca Angus' goal with 1:27 left in the match prevented the Wahine from its first shutout in school history.
No. 1 Stanford will face rival No. 4 Cal at 6:30 p.m. semifinal on Saturday. No. 3 USC and No. 2 UCLA will meet up in the first semifinal match tomorrow at 5 p.m., while Host Hawai`i will face UC Santa Barbara in a consolation bracket match at 2 p.m.
| Match #5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| #8 San Diego State (19-14) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| #1 Stanford (24-0) | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
SDSU Saves: Ashley Zabel - 5, Heather Stiles - 5
Stanford Goals: Hilary Gallogly (3), Margie Dingeldein (2), Anne-Marie Keenan (2), Brenda Villa (2), Ellen Estes, Kate Pettit
Stanford Saves: Jackie Frank-8, Alli Henry - 4