KENOSHA, Wis. -- The Augustana Vikings women's water polo team finished the CWPA West Tourney with a perfect 4-0 record. The Vikings defeated the Grove City Wolverines 14-7 and the Carthage Firebirds 15-3.

Game one against Grove City

In the opening period, Abigail Gatlin scored first before Jersey Merrick followed two minutes later to gain the 2-0 lead. The Wolverines closed out the period with a goal in the final 30 seconds to create a 2-1 game after eight minutes of play. Merrick and Gatlin kept the momentum going in the second, after four minutes of action, to move the gap to 4-1. Grove City followed with two of their own to get within one, but Braelyn Hill stretched the difference back to two. The Wolverines collected another goal with 1:09 on the clock to move the game back to a one-point difference entering the halftime break. 

Returning to action, Alayna Ickert began the scoring for Augie with 6:18 on the clock. Three minutes later, Blezien found the back of the net to stretch the gap to 7-4. Both teams traded shots, with Anais Jones collecting the shot for the Vikings. Aneeka Sumanatilleke collected a successful shot 25 seconds later before Grove City tallied the final goal to create a 9-7 game heading into the final period. In the fourth, Anita Rodgers quickly shot past the goalkeeper, and Hailey Sherman quickly followed to move the game 11-7. Augie tallied three more points in the final five minutes of play, with successful goals coming from Walahuli Akau, Carli Udovich, and Merrick. 

In the cage, Eleni Nicoloudes saved three shots in her 16 minutes, while Jillian Hemming secured four saves in the final 16 minutes.

Game two against Carthage

The Firebirds fired first before Augie followed with three straight goals from Gatlin, Sumanatilleke, and Blezien to overtake the game 3-1. Carthage got within one before Hill moved the difference back to two a minute later. Mary King scored with 3:49 on the clock, and the Vikings closed the first half with successful shots from Rodgers and Blezien to take the 7-2 advantage. 

Returning to action, the Firebirds score first, but Augie followed with four straight goals. Akau started the scoring for the Vikings with back-to-back goals, with one being off a penalty shot. Jones followed with a penalty goal before Blezien closed the third with a goal in the final 22 seconds to move the score to 11-3. In the fourth, Augustana scored four while holding Carthage scoreless. The successful shots from the Vikings came from Sofia Boccalatte, Rodgers, Simone Cairns, and King to seal the 15-3 victory. 

Blezien led the team with three goals, while Rodgers, Hill, King, and Akau collected two apiece. In the cage, Susan Palmentera-Reid finished the game with 10 saves. 

With the two wins, Augie moves to 13-3 on the season and opens conference action with a perfect 4-0 record. The Vikings will be back on March 27-29 for CWPA Weekend in Washington, Pa.