Conference title defense begins for IU

The No. 10 Hoosier women's water polo squad will look to defend its Collegiate Water Polo Association Conference title this weekend as the team travels to Lewisburg, Penn., for the single-elimination tournament. IU enters the CWPA tourney as the No. 3 seed and will have a first-round bye.\nThe Cream and Crimson are coming off a heartbreaking loss to No. 8 Michigan this past weekend at the CWPA Western Divisional Championships in a match that they controlled for the most of the game. Despite the loss the Hoosiers played sound water polo, as they were led by juniors Krista Peterson and Jessica Goldner.\nPeterson and Goldner will be crucial to IU's success this weekend, as they have been relied upon throughout the season. IU coach Barry King has been satisfied with the duo this season and is anxious to see how they will respond this weekend as the Hoosiers look to win the CWPA conference championship for the second consecutive year.\n"I've been extremely pleased with Krista throughout the year," said King. "We have relied on her heavily on the offensive end, and she accepts that responsibility very well. Jessica has good experience in weekends like these, and I expect her be as good if not better than she was last year in this situation. Clearly, they are two of the people who drive our bus, and we will look for this weekend to step up."\nKing's squad will face the winner of the George Washington/Gannon match, both teams it has beaten this season. IU faced the Golden Knights of Gannon last weekend in the Divisional Semifinal and dominated them en route to a 12-3 victory. The Hoosiers defeated George Washington at the Bucknell Invitational earlier this season by a margin of 11-5.\nWith a win against either opponent, the Hoosiers have a chance to avenge previous losses to Hartwick and Michigan barring any upsets in the tournament. No. 14 Hartwick, seeded second in the tournament, would be on tap for the Hoosiers after a victory over either George Washington or Gannon. Hartwick defeated IU earlier in the season in a hard-fought sudden death match, also at the Bucknell Invite.\nMichigan, on the other hand, would face the Hoosiers once again in a championship match and for a fourth time this season. The Cream and Crimson would be looking to break the three-game losing streak against the Wolverines and gain a spot in the NCAA tournament.\nMichigan defeated the Hoosiers for the third time this season in a thrilling sudden death match this past weekend at Divisionals. Although IU came out on the wrong end of the scoreboard, the team believes if it plays the opposition as tough as it did, it will be on its way to a second consecutive conference championship.\n"We just need to go into the tournament with confidence knowing we can win," said sophomore Bridget McKeon. "If we play like we did against Michigan last time, I'm sure we can come out on top."\nThe squad has been working on fine-tuning a few of the minor aspects of its game and focusing on concentrating on one game at a time. Having a week in between tournaments has allowed the Hoosiers to concentrate on the teams they might be facing, namely Hartwick and Michigan.\n"We have been focusing on doing what we can do and making sure we take each game as it comes," said Peterson. "We've been training hard all season long, and this is what it all comes down to." \nDue to a first-round bye, the Hoosiers will have Friday off and will play a second-round match at 11:20 a.m. Saturday. With a win in the second-round, IU will advance to the semifinal match at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.\nThe third-place match will be at 1:40 p.m Sunday followed by the championship match, which will be played at 2:30 p.m.\n-- Contact staff writer Matt Ostrega at mostrega@indiana.edu.