Hoosiers begin quest for conference championship

After wrapping up a solid regular season two weeks ago in the Fluid Four Invitational, the IU women's water polo team is gearing up for another run at the Collegiate Water Polo Association conference championship and a trip back to the NCAA Final Four.\nThe Hoosiers, 16-7 for the year, will be traveling to Ann Arbor, Mich., this weekend in the CWPA Eastern Divisionals Saturday and Sunday. The No. 10 Hoosiers are set to take on Grove City at 10:15 a.m. Saturday -- a team they beat rather handilly earlier in the season by a score of 13-2. With a win over Grove City, the Cream and Crimson will await the winner of the Gannon/Mercyhurst match and face the prevailing team in the divisional semifinals Saturday evening.\nIU comes into the divisionals ranked second with a 7-1 record in conference -- the only loss coming to No. 8 Michigan. The Wolverines and Hoosiers are heavy favorites to face off against each other for the divisional championship match Sunday afternoon, and both are predicted to be among the top seeds in the CWPA eastern conference tournament next weekend.\n"This weekend is not really particularly preparing for one opponent," said IU coach Barry King. "I think this weekend is more about paying attention to what we are doing fundamentally."\nKing's squad also enters the divisionals with a great deal of confidence. Despite last week's loss to Team USA in exhibition action, King and his players believe they turned in a positive performance, and they are pleased with the way they played against the world's best.\nJunior Krista Peterson lead the Hoosiers against Team USA with a hat trick and thinks coming into divisionals the main strategy is using what they learned last week from the world champions and integrating it into their games this weekend. \n"We want to incorporate what we did last week against the national team and try to do the same things we did against them this weekend," Peterson said.\nPeterson, among the nation's best water polo players, has had a great supporting cast this season. Among the many talented players on the Hoosier squad are Peterson's fellow classmates, Jessica Goldner and Kandace Waldthaler. Goldner has been solid in goal all season and has been the head of a strong defense. Waldthaler, second to Peterson in scoring, has given IU another option on the offensive end. \nBesides the trio of juniors is a roster full of talented players that have all had a part in the successful regular season. Seniors Melissa Pietras and Kristy Streefkerk have fulfilled their leadership roles both in and outside of the pool. Sophomores Emily Schmitt and Bridget McKeon have played a solid all-around game for King and are in double digits in scoring, assists and steals. The freshman duo of Kristin Zernicke and Janis Pardy have been ferocious on the defensive end as they are first and second on the team in steals, respectively. \nThe talented Hoosiers believe they can be successful in the post-season as long as they continue playing a consistent style of water polo, beginning with Grove City this Saturday in Ann Arbor. According to Streefkerk, the main goal this weekend is to expand on last week's performance and keep improving throughout the postseason.\n"We just need to keep doing what we know do we can do and stepping up when we need to," said Streefkerk.\n-- Contact staff writer Matt Ostrega at mostrega@indiana.edu.