This past weekend, Villanova women’s water polo began its season by hosting the Villanova Invitational. The Wildcats went 4-0 in the tournament, defeating Mercyhurst, Iona, Mount St. Mary’s and Gannon. The 4-0 start to the season is the best start in program history.
On Saturday, the ‘Cats defeated Mercyhurst, 18-8. They then followed that win by defeating Iona, 10-8. Coming off two strong wins, the Wildcats looked to carry that momentum into Sunday’s doubleheader.
The ‘Cats are led by firstyear head coach Michael Gordon. Gordon is a familiar face in the program, as he first joined the staff in 2018 as an assistant coach. Gordon graduated from Villanova, where he was a two-time All-American on the men’s water polo team. As roles within the program change, the goal for it remains to reach the MAAC Championships.
The first of the two games played on Sunday was against Mount St. Mary’s.
The Wildcats got off to a strong start, leading by as much as five in the contest.
However, the Mountaineers mounted a comeback in the final minutes.
Villanova managed to pull out a narrow victory, 12-11.
The team is powered by its two senior captains, attacker Stella Byles and goalie Abigail Shelby.
Byles scored a total of four goals with her last one coming at the 2:30 mark to put the Cats up three. Shelby has also been great on the defensive end, as she recorded another six save performance in the victory.
“They lead by example,” Gordon said. “They work very hard in practice, they keep the team in line making sure everyone is doing drills the right way and holding people accountable to be instilled with that hard work ethic they have.”
Another player attempting to become a memorable name is freshman attacker Emmie Mallory from Encinitas, California. Mallory added three goals in the victory. Mallory and Byles are establishing themselves as a dominant scoring tandem.
In their final game of the tournament, the ‘Cats dominated Gannon, 18-8. Eleven different Wildcats scored over the course of the game.
Mallory scored three goals. A 4-0 start will help the Wildcats push closer towards their goal of playing in the MAAC Championship.
