HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay water polo team returns to the friendly confines of Pioneer Pool this weekend to play at home for just the second time in the 2018 regular season. The Pioneers will host Cal State Monterey Bay and Azusa Pacific for a triple-header.

East Bay and Monterey Bay kick off the day with the designated Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) match between the two conference rivals at 10:00 a.m. This is one of the biggest games games on CSUEB's schedule, as it's one of just four contests that count towards conference standings and tournament seedings.

The Otters are back in the pool at 1:00 p.m. for a non-conference match against Azusa Pacific, and then Pioneers take their turn against the Cougars to close out the day at 4:00 p.m. That finale will be a shot at redemption for the Pioneers, who fell 12-9 to APU two weeks ago at Cal Lutheran's tournament. 

The Pioneers had last week off from competition and haven't played since winning three out of four games on their trip to Thousand Oaks. The loss to the Cougars was their only setback, sandwiched between an impressive 9-5 win over Cal Lutheran and an 18-5 rout of Occidental, as well as an 11-6 victory over the University of Toronto in exhibition play.

After netting nine goals during that trip and capturing CSUEB Athlete of the Week honors, Auriel Bill is the team's leader in goals (22), assists (19), and steals (18). She ranks fourth among all WWPA players averaging 3.42 points per game. 

Briana Ruiz has assumed a major role this season and ranks as CSUEB's second-leading overall scorer with 10 goals and seven assists to go along 15 steals. Freshman Adrienne Van Dyke has made a big impact as well, totaling 13 goals, 10 steals, and a team-high 12 drawn ejections.

Cal State Monterey Bay opened the season with eight straight losses, but the Otters have been hot, winning four of their last six. Lucy Gates leads the team in points with 14 goals and nine assists, and she's third among WWPA players with 29 steals. Veteran Marisa Lovos has scored a team-high 18 goals. 

Azusa Pacific is having an excellent season, receiving votes alongside Cal State East Bay in the national top-25 coaches poll. After beating the Pioneers in Thousand Oaks, they lost four straight to No. 17 Long Beach State, Iona, No. 19 Cal State Northridge, and No. 9 Michigan last weekend up in Ann Arbor, before bouncing back with an 8-5 road victory over Sonoma State on Thursday. The Cougars have a potent offense with eight players who have at least 20 total points this season, led by Britni Tisdale (20 goals, 19 assists, 23 steals) and Britt Harris (27 goals, 10 assists, 28 steals).