HAYWARD, Calif. -- The 2019 water polo season officially begins this weekend for Cal State East Bay, as the Pioneers travel to Fresno for a Saturday showdown with conference rival Fresno Pacific at 11:30 a.m.

After kicking the year off with an impressive effort in their annual alumni game last weekend, the Pioneers will look to open the regular season on a high note. They will try to do so against a program they have, frankly, dominated in recent years. East Bay enters Saturday having won 17 straight games against FPU dating back 11 seasons.

The 2019 squad carries high expectations into the spring, coming off a 2018 season in which they finished 18-9, matched the program record for winning percentage, and reaching the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) championship game for the fourth time in five years. Their record included a win over No. 23 Fresno State, and eight of their nine losses came to teams ranked in the Top-25.

Perhaps most impressively, last year's team was led almost entirely by underclassmen. As such, the composition of the 2019 roster -- and especially the starting lineup -- has not changed a great deal. 

At the top of the list is Auriel Bill, who as a sophomore became the first player in program history to be named WWPA Player of the Year after leading the conference in assists (48) and total points (95). She also became the second Pioneer ever to be voted Division II National Player of the Year by the water polo coaches association. The Saskatchewan native joins Claire Pierce as the only CSUEB players in team history to earn First Team All-America honors their freshman and sophomore years. 

If it weren't for Bill, Adrien Van Dyke might have had a strong Player of the Year case after turning in one of the strongest rookie campaigns ever by a Pioneer. She picked up First Team All-WWPA and First Team All-America honors after leading the conference with 55 goals and finishing third with 80 total points.

The Pioneers also return a pair of Honorable Mention All-WWPA players in senior Makenna Nation and junior Briana Ruiz (24 goals, 31 steals). Nation led the team and ranked fourth in the league in both saves (173) and steals (51). East Bay looks to have a formidable group of goalkeepers with Nation and a pair of promising freshmen in Brighton Kinney and South African National Team member Daniela Passon minding the cage.

Returning, as well, after outstanding freshman seasons are Maci Taylor (28 assists, team-high 28 drawn ejections) and Ivanna Anderson (29 goals, 27 steals), who started their Pioneer careers impressively as regular starters. 

In her 17th year athe the helm, two-time Division II National Coach of the Year Lisa Cooper also welcomes back an experienced group of upperclassmen in seniors Brittany Smith, Brooke Hodgkinson, Cheyenne Brady, Cheyenne Pena, and Maeve Flynn, as well as junior Gina Sorensen, all of whom played regularly for the Pioneers in 2018.

Cooper has added four transfer student-athletes to join her core of field players. Payton Bosque comes to East Bay with three years of eligibility after playing her freshman season last year at No. 6 ranked University of Hawaii. The Pioneers also welcome a trio of junior college transfers in Tahnee Trew (San Joaquin Delta College), Meghan Hayward (Sierra College), and Rheanna Lawrence (Golden West College). 

After their trip to Fresno this weekend, the Pioneers will return to Hayward for their home opener on Saturday, Feb. 2 against local rival Santa Clara.