The reigning champions are jumping back in the pool.

“Other teams are definitely going to want to beat us this year,” said sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Steele. “It’s a brand new year, and everything that happened last year is kind of in the past, but we’re going to use the confidence that we gained last year to help us.”

No. 1 UCLA women’s water polo is kicking off its season with four games at the California Cup at the Spieker Aquatics Complex. UCLA will face No. 2 Stanford (2-0) in an exhibition game Sunday as well as No. 15 UC Davis (3-1), No. 8 Long Beach State (2-0) and No. 9 Fresno State (2-1) in regular games across the weekend.

Against the first three teams they’ll face in regular-season competition, the Bruins are 37-0.

The Bruins are getting things started one week later than usual after not competing last week due to the Los Angeles fires.

After an undefeated season en route to the national championship in 2024, the Bruins have some fresh faces adding and returning to their lineup.

Three big names headline the list.

Junior center Bia Mantellato is joining the team after transferring from Hawai’i, where the two-time Big West Player of the Year scored 146 goals through two years and was a Peter J. Cutino Award finalist in her sophomore campaign.

Steele – a fellow 2024 Cutino Award finalist – said Mantellato will be an asset for the Bruins.

“It’s great to have her shooting on me at practice. And yeah, she’s got a really hard shot,” Steele said. “We couldn’t be more excited that she’s on the team this year and that she came to UCLA.”

Attacker Emma Lineback – who led the team in 2023 with 52 goals and 27 assists – is returning to the Bruin lineup for her redshirt junior season after redshirting the 2024 season while training with Team USA.

While Lineback did not make the Olympic roster, coach Adam Wright said she earned valuable experience.

“She got a chance to train with a team that I consider maybe one of the most storied teams in Olympic history,” Wright said. ” They didn’t do as well as they wanted, but that group is incredible. For her to have the opportunity training a year plus with them, there’s no doubt she comes back a better player, smarter player, and she’s got to show the group through consistency.”

And returning from winning an Olympic Silver medal with Team Australia, redshirt sophomore utility Sienna Green will also fit back into the team.

Green scored 39 goals while playing in all 29 games for the Bruins in 2023.

“I’m loving being back. I really missed it while I was away, but it’s so nice to be back with the girls and be hitting it out again,” Green said.

The Bruins’ eight-person freshman class and two redshirt freshmen will see more playing time early in the year, Wright said.

“Our goal is, through the first segment here of season is getting them (the newcomers) as much experience as possible, and getting them experience whether they’ve already played at the collegiate level,” Wright said. “We want to have them get opportunities and situations so they can become more comfortable as we go through the year, so we’re definitely going to have a large presence with our younger group again this year.”

Wright added that this weekend will be an opportunity for the Bruins to demonstrate what they’ve been working on throughout the offseason.

“It’s really being disciplined to our details, committing for each other, and now we really get to see that,” Wright said. “We’ve been doing it against each other, but now we’ve got to do it against somebody else – and for me, that’s the most important piece.”

The Bruins’ season will begin against the Aggies at noon Saturday.