Flynn’s double hat trick leads Stanford over Hawai’i in national semifinal

On the doorstep, still waiting to break the door down.

The University of Hawai’i women’s water polo team saw the 2025 season wrap up on Saturday, falling to No. 1 Stanford in the NC women’s water polo championship semifinals, 13-4. Cardinal attacker and Olympian Jenna Flynn tallied an insane six goals, five coming in the first half as the nine-time national champions returned to the championship match after a one-year absence.

Hawai’i saw four different players score in the loss, getting contributions from freshmen and seniors alike. First-year standouts Ema Vernoux and Gabrielle Doyle each found the back of the net in the opening half while seniors Bernadette Doyle and Jordan Wedderburn scored second-half goals to close out their UH careers.

Under the leadership of first-year head coach James Robinson, the Rainbow Wahine returned to the second-to-last round of the national tournament after reaching the same point last season under longtime coach Maureen Cole. While the result wasn’t a NCAA title, Hawai’i reaffirmed the program’s place amongst the sport’s elite.

“Obviously not the result you ever want in a semifinal, but you’ve got to tip the cap to Stanford,” Robinson said immediately following the loss. “For us, that one loss doesn’t define the season. I couldn’t be more proud of this group, what we accomplished after a little bit of a disappointing finish last year, being able to come back and put ourselves in that same position.”

Hawai’i was coming off a gutsy, gritty 8-7 victory over California in the national quarterfinals, avenging last year’s postseason loss to the Golden Bears in this new campaign. It was the first time in nearly 20 years that the Rainbow Wahine water polo program advanced to the national final four in back-to-back seasons, a stated goal from the outset by the team as they looked to dispel notions that last year’s success came from the overall college talent pool taking a hit from players training instead of playing in an Olympic year.

“We, as a senior group, really didn’t want to [hear] that oh, last year was an Olympic year and that’s why [Hawai’i] made the semifinal and that’s why they did so well last year,” senior Jordan Wedderburn said of turning in another elite year of results from the program. “We just weren’t happy with that narrative, and we wanted to prove that this is where we belong and that this is where we are going to continue to be.”

Hawai’i boasted the Big West Player of the Year for the third consecutive season after Bernie Doyle earned the honor for the conference, helping UH reach the national semifinal round for the sixth time in program history. The Rainbow Wahine are the only Big West women’s water polo program to have advanced into the final four teams more than once.

Stanford raced out to a 3-0 lead behind a first-period hat trick from Flynn, but Hawai’i ended the opening frame with a rush as Vernoux and Gabrielle Doyle snuck shots past second-team all-MPSF goalkeeper Christine Carpenter to pull UH within one after one. The second period presented more of a challenge for Hawai’i, failing to score as the Cardinal tacked on four more goals in the frame to enter halftime leading by a handful.

“That’s how Stanford has been so successful,” Robinson said of the MPSF champion’s speed and physicality. “Depth, speed, like Jordan said, pure athletes. You look at their starting six, it’s five Olympians, and they’re going to put pressure on you.”

The Cardinal added three more goals quickly out of the halftime break, but the Rainbow Wahine fought back again as Bernie Doyle and Wedderburn each scored to continue the fight for Hawai’i into the fourth period. Two goals from Stanford in the fourth frame propped up the MPSF champions with some insurance late, putting away UH for good.

Seven different players scored for Stanford while the defense held Hawai’i to four goals on 29 shots, three times below what the Rainbow Wahine averaged offensively this season. Carpenter had six saves for the Cardinal, allowing all four goals before giving way to Jackie King for the final three minutes.

(Note: Stanford won the 2025 national championship on Sunday, May 11, defeating No. 3 USC, 11-7, for the 10th title in program history – the most among of any in the sport.)

Bernie Doyle and Jordan Wedderburn were each named to the NCAA Championship All-Tournament teams for their final efforts in a Rainbow Wahine uniform, seeing Doyle earn first-team honors while Wedderburn worked her way on as a second-team honoree.