Bulldogs travel to Tempe for ASU Invite

FRESNO, Calif. - The No. 10 Fresno State water polo team heads to Arizona for the ASU Invitational this weekend, competing at the event for the first time since 2018.

No. 10 Fresno State (5-3, 0-0 GCC) vs No. 6 Arizona State (8-1, 0-0 MPSF)
Friday, February 6 • 5 p.m. PT • Mona Plummer Aquatic Center • Tempe, Ariz.
Watch: Overnght ($)
Live Stats: 6-8 Sports
Twitter: @FresnoStateWP
Series History: Tied 1-1

No. 10 Fresno State (5-3, 0-0 GCC) vs UC Santa Barbara (1-7, 0-0 Big West)
Saturday, February 7 • 11:30 a.m. PT • Mona Plummer Aquatic Center • Tempe, Ariz.
Watch: TBD
Live Stats: 6-8 Sports
Twitter: @FresnoStateWP
Series History: UCSB leads, 1-2

No. 10 Fresno State (5-3, 0-0 GCC) vs Cal Lutheran (1-2, 0-0 SCIAC)
Saturday, February 7 • 3:15 p.m. PT • Mona Plummer Aquatic Center • Tempe, Ariz.
Watch: TBD
Live Stats: 6-8 Sports
Twitter: @FresnoStateWP
Series History: FS leads, 3-0

No. 10 Fresno State (5-3, 0-0 GCC) vs No. 18 Marist (3-1, 0-0 MAAC)
Sunday, February 8 • 9:30 a.m. PT • Mona Plummer Aquatic Center • Tempe, Ariz.
Watch: TBD
Live Stats: 6-8 Sports
Twitter: @FresnoStateWP
Series History: FS leads, 2-0

Bulldog Bones

Fresno State returns to action after a week off
The Bulldogs last competed at the Brigitte Donner Daws Memorial Invite hosted by Cal on Jan. 24-25. The Bulldogs went 2-2 at the tournament
Fresno State is tied for 10th in this week's national poll
Fresno State has spent 79 consecutive weeks in the CWPA Top 10
This weekend's tournament is the Bulldogs' third of the season. They will have one more next weekend before getting into individual games and conference play
Fresno State has seen seven of its eight games decided by four goals or less this season
All eight games this season have been played against Top 20 teams, including two in the Top 5
Fresno State added six true freshman to the roster for 2026, and all six have seen play time this season
Fresno State was picked to win the GCC this season, as voted on by the league's head coaches
Fresno State is hosting the GCC Championship this season on April 10-12 at the Aquatics Center
Fresno State has won four of the last five GCC championship titles
Fresno State is coached by Natalie Benson who has a 119-82 overall record as the Bulldogs' head coach. Benson is in her ninth season at the helm

MOBES
Fresno State freshman goalkeeper Katelyn Mobley was named the Golden Coast Conference Player of the Week following her performance at the Brigitte Donner Daws Memorial Invite.

Mobley had 44 saves in four games, all against Top 20 opponents. She led the Bulldogs to wins over No. 12 San Jose State (10-8) and No. 16 UC Davis (13-9), while falling to No. 4 and host Cal (15-11) and No. 3 UCLA (14-6). Mobley had a .500 save percentage last weekend, going up against some of the nation's top talent.

The true freshman had her best performance of the weekend with a season-high 16 saves against No. 16 UC Davis. Her 16 saves are enough for second in a game in program history, and the most by a true freshman. She allowed only nine goals for a .640 save percentage against the Aggies, her highest of the season.

She had 10 or more saves in three of the four games on the weekend.

Through eight games this season, Mobley has totaled 81 saves. She earned the Bulldogs' first GCC Player of the Week honor this season.

Creepin' up on the record
For the last three years, Hailey Andress has seen her game progress. The California native entered her senior season as a three-time All-American and three-time GCC all-conference selection. She is in the record books for almost every statistical category, and is nearing the program's all-time scoring record.

With nine goals last time out, Andress finds herself just seven goals shy of tying the program's all-time scoring record. The record was set last season by Brooke Ochoa (2022-25) with 217 career goals. Earlier in her career, Andress became the fastest player to score 100 career goals, doing so in her 45th career game (vs CBU, Mar. 9, 2024).

Andress finds herself in the Top 5 for career goals (210), hat tricks (38), assists (76) and steals (88). She also owns the single season record for goals (74) and the single game goal record (7).

Win the sprint
Fresno State sophomore Marit van der Kolk is the conference leader with 20 sprint wins this season. With a 20-4 sprint record this season, she has an .833 win percentage, continuing her success to start the quarters. She has five games this season with an undefeated sprint record.

In her short career thus far, van der Kolk has 61 career sprint wins to tie for second all-time in program history.

Year 9 for the head coach
Natalie Benson was hired as the program's head coach for its inaugural season in 2017. Benson enters her ninth year leading the 'Dogs in the pool and has compiled a 119-82 overall record, including four GCC Championship titles since the first year of competition in 2018.

In the rankings
Under Benson's direction, Fresno State has been ranked in the Top 10 nationally for 79
consecutive weeks, dating back to the 2021 season. The Bulldogs were ranked seventh nationally to open the 2026 season, their highest ranking since March of 2025.

International 'Dogs
Of the 25 players on the Bulldogs' roster, 10 are international student-athletes. The Bulldogs have athletes on the roster from New Zealand, the Netherlands, Australia, Russia and Israel (in addition to the United States).

Markovsky competing at European Championships
Fresno State water polo is represented on the international stage this week as freshman attacker Noa Markovsky is competing at the 2026 Women's Water Polo European Championships in Funchal, Portugal. Markovsky is a member of Team Israel.

The European Championships began on January 26 and will run through February 5. Teams are divided into four groups of four in Group Phase I, with only the top two teams from each group advancing to Group Phase II. The other eight teams will compete for positions 9-16.

The national teams participating include Israel, Greece, Slovakia, France, Germany, Hungary, Spain, Romania, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Turkey, Netherlands, Great Britain, and Switzerland.

Through the first phase, Israel was one of five unbeaten teams that have qualified for the Top 8 round.

'Dogs repeat as preseason favorites
The Fresno State water polo team was selected as the preseason favorites in the Golden Coast Conference for 2026, announced by the conference office ahead of the season openers and voted on by the league's head coaches.

The Bulldogs have won four of the last five Golden Coast Conference tournament titles (2021-24), falling last season to host LMU. This season, Fresno State plays host of the championship tournament that is set for April 10-12 at the Aquatics Center.

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Players Mentioned

Hailey Andress

Noa Markovsky

Katelyn Mobley

Brooke Ochoa

Marit van der Kolk