Playing water polo is only half the reward. When Nanea Fujiyama was awarded the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Ambassador of Aloha scholarship, it allowed her to continue her water polo career at Occidental College in California.

But the scholarship itself provided much more.

Because she went to Occidental, Fujiyama also had the opportunity to study abroad for a semester in Australia.

She took classes in a town about 90 minutes south of Sydney, opening her up to an entire new world she would have otherwise never known.

"If I didn’t get the (scholarship), I probably would have stayed back home (at UH) because it’s cheaper, or gone to Bucknell, which gave me more money to play water polo," said Fujiyama, a 2009 Kamehameha graduate. "Because I came here I have the opportunity to play water polo and study abroad and after going to Australia, I think everybody should study abroad because it’s an amazing experience.

"I can’t wait to go back again."

Until then, Fujiyama is back on campus competing in her third water polo season for the Tigers, who ascended to the No. 1 spot in the Division III rankings earlier this year.

After starting the season losing two of its first three games, Occidental rattled off 14 straight wins, including a 7-6 victory over UC Santa Barbara, which was ranked No. 10 in Division I.

"Beating them was a really big deal," said Fujiyama, who scored four times and assisted on the winning goal with 66 seconds left in the game. "We kind of went in there carefree because we played them before and got killed every time, so we had nothing to lose and they did."

Fujiyama scored a team-leading 60 goals as a sophomore, leading Occidental to the championship game of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament.

The Tigers were stunned after two overtimes and two sudden-death periods, losing 7-6 to the University of Redlands, bringing their season to a sudden end.

Last year was the first season the NCAA allowed the SCIAC champion to play in the NCAA Division I tournament, which Occidental missed out on to the Bulldogs because of a tiebreaker.

The Tigers suffered a similar heart-breaking defeat this year, losing to Pomona-Pitzer, 15-13 in overtime, last Saturday in a conference matchup of the top two teams in Division III.

If they meet again, it will happen in the conference tournament at the end of the month.

"We seem to like to make it exciting," said Fujiyama, who scored five times against the Sagehens. "I think we were down three going into the fourth quarter and it was good that we managed to come back and tie it, but we didn’t start off real well."

Fujiyama is the team’s leading scorer with 86 points on 59 goals and 27 assists and is also tops with 41 steals.

Freshman Koral Gill, a 2011 Lahainaluna alumnae, has added eight goals in 19 games in her first season.

Occidental has eight games left before the tournament, including a rare match at home against Hawaii on April 15.

"It’ll be fun because it’s the first time we get to play each other since I’ve been here," Fujiyama said. "(Hawaii coach) Maureen (Cole) used to be my club coach and her two bothers were swim coaches from fourth grade up to high school, so it should be a lot of fun.

"Hopefully we can beat them too."