CBU Sweeps The Joust with Wins over La Verne and #18 UCSB; Bumbaca and Ramirez Named All-Tournament

Friday, January 16

Riverside, Calif.

9 AM

California Baptist University

0-0,0-0

University of La Verne

0-0,0-0

La Verne

California Baptist

Photo by: Madison Sardana

CBU Sweeps The Joust with Wins over La Verne and #18 UCSB; Bumbaca and Ramirez Named All-Tournament

1/16/2026 6:14:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Ryley Collom, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications & Digital Media

RIVERSIDE--- The California Baptist University women's water polo team opened up its season 2-0 by sweeping The Joust with dominant wins over La Verne and #18 UC Santa Barbara at the Lancer Aquatics Center.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by CBU WWP (@lancerswwp)

GAME 1 vs La Verne:

The Lancers opened up their 2026 season against the La Verne Leopards and would dominate the matchup from the jump. CBU outscored the Leopards 8-1 in the first quarter and would open up a 13-3 lead through 16 minutes of action. La Verne would have its best period in the third frame, but they would still be outscored 3-2 as the Lancers would wind up with a dominant 22-6 victory to begin its season 1-0.

Niya Bumbaca was phenomenal with a game-high seven points with a hat trick and four assists, both of which led the stat sheet for CBU. Six other Lancers would score multiple goals in the match, including an impressive debut for Cal transfer Emmie Ramirez. Ramirez scored two goals and dished out three assists while also playing solid defense with four steals. Ivana Malenkovic scored her first two collegiate goals as well and would tack on an assist.

In goal, the Lancers played four different goalkeepers, led by Tyanna Schneider, who would have two assists, two saves, and three steals during her eight minutes of action as the starter.

GAME 2 vs #18 UCSB:

The second game of the day was a historic one for the Lancers, as they beat the #18 Gauchos 16-9 to complete the tournament sweep. The win was the first over UCSB since 2011 and tied for the highest-ranked win of the DI era for the Lancers, with the Gauchos entering the matchup ranked #18 in the nation.

The Lancers were dialed in from the opening sprint as they would jump to a 5-1 lead in the opening frame with Ramirez scoring two goals early to set CBU up for early success. CBU's offense continued to press on the gas in the second period with three more goals as they would take an 8-3 lead into halftime. UCSB closed the gap to four goals early on in the third period, but CBU's offense continued to hum along and keep a comfortable lead heading into the fourth period.

The Lancers put the match away early in the fourth period with two early goals to extend the lead to eight. UCSB would score three of the next four goals, but the damage was already done as the Lancers would pull off the 16-9 upset victory over the Gauchos. Reese Beringer was magnificent in the middle for the Lancers with five goals on five shots and would tack on two assists to lead CBU in points with seven. Bumbaca and Ramirez were equally impactful with hat tricks and combined for 11 total points.

Schneider got the full workload in between the posts and would contribute eight total saves and three steals as they held the Gauchos to just nine goals in the match. Ramirez and Bumbaca were both named to the All-Tournament Team for their terrific weekends. In total, Bumbaca would have 13 points in the two games, and Ramirez would tally ten points.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by CBU WWP (@lancerswwp)

NEXT: The Lancers will head to Arizona to compete in the Malmsten Invitational hosted by Arizona State in Tempe, AZ, beginning on Saturday, January 24.