In 24 seasons of women’s water polo in collegiate athletics, only three programs (UCLA, USC, Stanford) have won a National Championship. Loyola Marymount University (2004) and California (2024) are the only other schools to even appear in the championship. The lack of parity in the sport is not something lost on Fresno State Head Coach Natalie Benson.
“That is the reason I am here,” Benson said. “The fact that there’s only been three teams that have ever won a championship? To me, it’s just not right. Obviously those teams deserve to win, but I think that other teams should, and could be able to come in and break that open. And I think that’s what would make the sport exciting.”
Benson, a 3-time National Champion (2001, 03-05) with UCLA has seen both sides of it and wants to be a part of the tide shift. The 9th year Bulldog head coach referenced Cinderellas in March Madness (college basketball) as an example of how parity in college athletics can be a great thing.
“You can have a little Cinderella come in and take care of business, and that’s what makes the sport exciting. That is definitely something our sport lacks, having a team that can come in and do some really great things and challenge the status quo,” Benson said. “That’s why I love being here at Fresno State, and it’s what we try to sell to our kids. Like here, you have an opportunity. There’s no guarantees, but you have an opportunity to make history and do something great.”
The Bulldogs have seen themselves just on the outside of that upper echelon of elite water polo schools, ranking in the top 10 in each of the last five seasons, including as high as #3 in 2024. This run of success includes back-to-back-back-to-back Golden Coast Conference (GCC) championships from 2021-24 before losing in the GCC title game last season to LMU.
The Water Dogs will look to take that loss and flip the script in 2026.
“They were on the bus saying how they didn’t want to go through that again. I think that was a really good wake up call for everybody, myself included,” Benson said.
Hailey Houdini
Benson and her coaching staff will lean heavily on the play and leadership of senior attacker Hailey Andress, who has 191 career goals to her name, only 26 shy of the school record set by Brooke Ochoa last season. Like Ochoa, Andress is a three-time All-American including a “down year” by her standards in 2025 in which she finished with 65 goals, 26 steals and 6 steals.
“Last season was tough for her. Coming up and being a freshman and starting off so strong, having a good sophomore campaign, and then having all those expectations kind of weighed on her a little bit last year. I think this year, she’s letting go of some stuff, but also kind of turning on her own personal engine to be the best she’s capable of,” Benson said.
Benson referred to Haley as a magician, for her ability to create opportunities out of nowhere.
“I like to call her Haley Houdini. She does some really magical things that are impossible to teach, but just come from her soul, which is super fun to watch,” Benson said.
Taking on a leadership role now as an upperclassmen, Andress has prioritized reinforcing the culture and the standards that they have as a program with her teammates.
“If you come to Fresno State, we have an expectation, and you’re aware of that coming into it,” Andress said. “Our biggest thing for this year is our grit. That [LMU] loss last year was rough, but I think we’re ready to come back and get another title.”
New blood in the water
Roster turnover is something coaches have to deal with every season, Benson is no exception as the Bulldogs will have to replace the production of several key contributors including Abbey Simhauser and Ochoa. Despite the turnover, Benson sees it as a fun challenge.
“We can’t regret the things that we’ve lost. We have to move forward and be excited about what we have right now and I think it’s a really deep, talented group,” Benson said. “Without challenge, there is no change. I think that the change does produce a challenge for us, but I think that’s just like any year in any team, and it helps me get better, keeps me sharp.”
Benson has high confidence going into the season with her new group, one she says will give them more versatility than in years past, easing the pressure on Andress.
“With the depth that we have, we can have certain people do certain things, and I think it gives us a little bit more leeway where not one person doesn’t have to do everything. We can have people who have a certain role and responsibility, which makes it a little bit more exciting for us,” Benson said.
In addition to Andress, Fresno State returns all-conference selections in junior goalkeeper Ida Tully-Giles, senior center Ashley Williams and sophomore defender Marit van der Kolk. Junior attacker Kira Anderson (73 career points) and sophomore transfer center Georgia Daly (22 goals in 2025 with UC Davis) figure to play key roles as well. The Bulldogs brought in seven newcomers as well, a few of which could see some playing time early in the season, including Katelyn Mobley who is in competition for the starting goalie spot.
“We have a lot of depth in our team,” Andress said. “It’s been awesome having people we can run through. It’s awesome having so many people we can rely on in the water. One thing I love about our team is we have really high standards for each other and for the team in general.”
Polopalooza
The new season begins at home this weekend (January 16-18) as the Water Dogs host the 2026 Polopalooza Tournament at the Fresno State Aquatics Center, featuring some of the highest competition in the nation.
The ‘Dogs will play Michigan under the lights on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. They will play Indiana University (11 a.m.) and UC Irvine (5 p.m) on Saturday and wrap it up against San Jose State on Sunday at 11 a.m. California Berkely and the University of Hawaii (both finished top nationally in 2025) are playing in the tournament as well. Click here for the full tournament schedule.
“It’s one of the best tournaments in collegiate water polo. I’m super happy to be a part of it, and super happy to help host it,” Andress said.
In addition to some of the best water polo schools in the country, the tournament will have several food vendors, a tie-dye station and a splatter paint room (Saturday and Sunday). Fans will have an opportunity to meet the team on Saturday following its match with the Anteaters. There will also be arts and crafts available after the match on Sunday.
“It’s a really great community builder for us. We want to show off how great Fresno is, that we’re great hosts, that we can put on a great show and that we’re a desirable place to be,” Benson said.
Parking is free and tickets will be available at the gate.
The rest of the way
After Polapalooza, Fresno State will play four games in the Cal Cup (1/24-25) and four more in the ASU Invitational (2/6-8). From there, they will play three games at UC Irvine as part of the Kalbus Invite (2/13-15). The ‘Dogs will return home for its annual match with Fresno Pacific on Friday, Feb. 20.
Following a 16-game non-conference schedule, the Bulldogs will begin GCC play the next day at Santa Clara on Saturday, Feb. 21. They will play at LMU the following Saturday. After a week off, they will play at Azusa Pacific (3/14) with a stand alone game at UCLA the next day (3/15), its second back-to-back.
The Bulldogs will wrap up the regular season with home games against Cal Baptist University (3/20), San Diego State (3/22) and the University of Pacific (3/28) to end the month of March. Fresno State is also the host site for this year’s GCC tournament (4/10-12), for the first time since 2019.
“It’d be nice to win in our own pool, right? Isn’t that everybody’s dream? To win on your home turf. One thing at a time, obviously, but that’s the end goal,” Benson said.
The Bulldogs have been picked as the favorite to take back the GCC with 35 points (5 first place votes), with the Lions 31 points (2 first place votes). The polls followed with Pacific (26 points) picked to finish 3rd in the seven-team GCC.
The winner of that tournament will receive a bid into the NCAA tournament at La Jolla (4/24-26).
Story written by Al Scott, photos courtesy of Fresno State Athletics.