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2012
Indiana Women's Water Polo Season Preview
BLOOMINGTON,
Ind. – The No. 10 Indiana Hoosiers women’s water polo team enters the
2012 season having graduated seven seniors from a squad that captured
the program’s second Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Eastern
Championship, finished sixth at the NCAA Championship and won a school
record-tying 26 games in 2011.
The combination of several
key returnees and a highly regarded freshman class will be relied upon
heavily as the team looks to overcome the loss of an accomplished group
of seniors that amassed 50 percent of the goals scored in 2011.
The
Hoosiers will also be without two-time ACWPC All-American Jakie Kohli,
who will redshirt the 2012 campaign as she recovers from offseason
shoulder surgery.
“It’s a big transition from the
experience of last year’s squad,” said Indiana head coach Barry King.
“We’re really excited about the talent that this freshman class brings
and I’m very excited about the leadership that our returners have been
providing over the fall and the beginning of the season.”
Defense
has been a staple of the Indiana program and 2012 will be no different,
as the Hoosiers return one of the top goalkeepers in the nation, senior
Cassie Wyckoff.
Wyckoff, a 2011 ACWPC All-American, is
coming off a stellar junior season that included a CWPA Eastern
Championship MVP and a single season school record of 348 saves. She
will be the backbone of a team that prides itself on making things
difficult for opposing offenses.
“It’ll clearly start in
the cage,” said King. “We’ll anchor everything around the experience
and the skill that Cassie brings to the goalkeeper position. We will
rely on her a lot to provide us some confidence to do things
defensively that might generate some easier opportunities for us
offensively going down the pool.”
Sophomore Shae Fournier
is the leading returner in several key statistical categories,
including goals (57), assists (39), steals (87), and field blocks (51).
The Winnipeg, Manitoba native will be looked upon to provide firepower
in 2012, to go along with her consistent play on the defensive end.
Fellow
sophomores Meghan Lappan and Amanda Redfern will also have key roles
this season after seeing major minutes during 2011. Lappan started 35
matches and was a steady force defensively for the Hoosiers, while
Redfern came off the bench for the majority of the season and scored 17
goals.
“The sophomores will be relied upon a great deal to
communicate their experience and to assure that the newcomers
understand that there is a growth process, but there are goals at the
end,” said King. “Shae is going to carry much of the load as far as
finishing goes, but we’re going to ask everybody to expand their games
and take more responsibility offensively so we can cover our graduation
losses.”
Senior Hanna Eimstad and junior Kym King return
and will provide experience to the young team. Eimstad has competed in
108 contests during her career, including 16 starts, while King has
seen action in 68 games in two seasons. Juniors Liza Dernehl and Megan
McAuley also return and will provide depth at their respective
positions.
The Hoosiers will integrate a 10-member
freshman class into the fray this season, which includes Katie
Contreras, Summer Creighton, Nina Escobedo, Alexis Jones, Colleen
McNaught, Devon Peterson, Alynn Reade, Shelley St. Omer Roy, Shelby
Taylor, and Jojo White.
Production will be needed from this talented group and King looks for
it to be a collective effort throughout the season.
“We
really expect it to be somebody different out of the class all the
time,” said King. “Colleen McNaught, Shelby Taylor, and Summer
Creighton all have the potential to be something special, but that’s
not really all that different from the rest of them. The class is going
to be judged more on their group effort than on the quality of one or
two of them.”
A Look at the CWPA
Indiana will compete
in the CWPA Western Division in 2012, which also consists of Gannon,
Hartwick, Maryland, Michigan, Notre Dame College, and Salem
International. The Southern Division includes Bucknell, Brown, George
Washington, Harvard, Mercyhurst, and Princeton.
The Hoosiers are ranked No. 1 in the preseason CWPA poll, followed by
No. 2 Hartwick, with Michigan and Princeton tied at No. 3.
The
Hoosiers will host the Western Division Championship on April 14-15 at
the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center. The Eastern Championship
will be hosted by Brown University in Providence, R.I. on April 27-29.
Coach King on the CWPA:
“I
think it’s as wide open as it’s ever been. Princeton has a really good
first seven, probably as good as they’ve had in the last 10 years.
Hartwick is going to be well coached and talented. Michigan may not be
as deep as they have been in the past, but they’ve still got very
talented players that need to be attended to. Then there’s a group like
Harvard. This is the best Harvard squad that they’ve had. Brown has
gotten better. Maryland is going to be playing with a certain amount of
passion, with something to prove to their institution so you just never
know what you’re going to get out of them, but more than likely you’re
going to get these herculean efforts from them that make them a very
dangerous squad.
“I like our chances and I like our squad.
We’re a good defensive squad and that’s usually where things center
around. How good are you at stopping another team? We’re going to be
good at that, but whether or not we can find a way to score one more
than everybody else is going to be our real challenge.”
On Deck…Michigan Kick-Off
The
Hoosiers will begin the 2012 season with a pair of marquee matchups at
the Michigan Kick-Off. IU opens the season against rival No. 12
Michigan in the season opener in Ann Arbor, Mich. at 12:00 p.m. on Jan.
21. The contest will be non-conference, as the two teams will meet
again March 31 in Ann Arbor. The Cream and Crimson will follow that up
at 6:00 p.m. with a rematch of last season’s first round NCAA
Championship battle with No. 3 UCLA. The Hoosiers will round out the
Michigan Kick-Off against Colorado State at 9:00 a.m. on Jan. 22.
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