Bella Baia returned to the UCLA women’s water polo program in September 2026 as part of head coach James Robinson-O’Brien’s initial coaching staff. Baia was named an assistant coach following two seasons each in the same role with Princeton men’s and women’s water polo.
Baia helped Princeton women’s water polo to a 45-13 record across 2025 and 2026. The men’s team went 46-19 over 2024 and 2025, twice qualifying for the National Collegiate Championship. Baia’s own playing career spanned four seasons at UCLA, during which the Bruins posted a national runner-up finish and two semifinal-round trips in three completed campaigns.
The Princeton women logged 10 wins against ranked opponents in 2026, matching the 2025 team’s total. The 2026 squad also tied a program record with four Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-America selections in 2026. In 2025, Kayla Yelensky was tabbed the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s Most Valuable Player after piling up team highs of 94 goals and 118 points.
Baia also aided in the development of men’s standout Roko Pozaric, a four-time All-America pick and Princeton’s all-time leading goal scorer. Pozaric posted team highs of 75 goals, 37 steals and 90 sprint wins for the 2024 Tigers, who found the back of the net a program-record 514 times. The 2024 and 2025 teams each went 9-1 in Northwest Water Polo Conference play and captured the league title.
A native of Orange, Calif., Baia joined head coach Adam Wright and the Bruins from Santa Margarita Catholic High School in 2019. She totaled 56 goals and 32 assists in 82 games. From 2019-2022, UCLA went 82-20. Baia, a three-time ACWPC All-Academic “Outstanding” honoree, graduated from UCLA in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. She would add a master’s degree in transformative coaching in leadership a year later.
While pursuing her master’s degree, Baia served as a girls’ assistant water polo coach at Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City, Calif. She also has experience coaching on the club level for Los Angeles Premier Water Polo and SOCAL Water Polo, as well as with USA Water Polo’s Olympic Development Program. Baia was an academic mentor in UCLA Athletics’ Office of Academic Excellence before departing for Princeton.
Bella Baia
