Penn State Behrend Adds Emily McNaughton & Lalelei Mata’afa to Water Polo Coaching Staff

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Former Penn State Behrend athlete Emily McNaughton and prior University of Hawaii competitor Lalelei Mata’afa join the water polo coaching staff of Gina Bella Mata’afa at Penn State Behrend for the 2024-25 academic year.

A native of Seven Fields, Pa., and a graduate of Pine-Richland High School, McNaughton returns to her alma mater as an assistant coach. A 2022 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III-East Region All-Conference Second Team selection, she racked up 44 goals, 21 assists, 30 drawn kickouts and 13 steals in her first three seasons in Erie.

A graduate of Lahainaluna HIgh School and a native of Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, Mata’afa heads to the mainland as a volunteer assistant under her sister following a standout athletic career.

During her time at Hawaii, she compiled 57 goals, four assists, 14 drawn exclusions, 14 steals and three field blocks in 40 games during the 2019, 2020 and 2022 seasons.  Following a red shirt season as a freshman in 2018, she notched 17 goals, an assist, six drawn kickouts and six seals in 16 games in 2019 prior to accounting for 28 goals, two assists, a drawn kickout, seven steals and a field block in 13 games during the 2020 campaign.  She tacked on 12 goals, an assist, seven drawn kickouts, a steal and a pair of field blocks in 11 games in 2021 prior to experiencing a medical redshirt season in 2022. 

A two-time Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) water polo Player of the Year who helped lead Lahainaluna to MIL Championships in 2014, 2015 and 2016, she also won four Hawaii State Wrestling Championships to rate as only one of four athletes in the history of the state to achieve the honor.

A 2016 Enterprise/Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) Hall of Fame inductee, she won the 2008 National Football League (NFL) Punt, Pass & Kick competition with runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2014.