No. 9 IU plays at its pool for first, only time this season

The No. 9 IU women's water polo team has been ranked in the top 10 for the past four weeks. It has posted a 17-8 record and has been ranked no lower than No. 11, despite playing 13 of the top 20 teams in the nation. All of those games have been on the road.\nThis weekend the Hoosiers finally get to play at home in the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center at the Student Recreational Sports Complex. \n"We have been looking forward to this weekend," said IU coach Barry King. "It will be nice to be at home and not have to deal with traveling. But, it will be important for us to get past the distractions of being at home. Most of the parents will be here. Friends will be at the games."\nThe first game for the Hoosiers will be at 1 p.m. Saturday against Colorado State University. The Hoosiers and Rams met Jan. 30 at the Michigan Invitational. The Rams were playing in their first weekend of competition as a varsity team, and IU rudely welcomed them with a 13-3 defeat. \n"I expect them to be better than they were at the beginning," King said. "We played them on their first weekend of their varsity existence. They have had time to gel as a team and gain some experience. Still, we are a little better physically and in the goal. We need to use those advantages in our counterattacks against them."\nThe next game will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against No. 14 University of California-Davis. The Aggies are coming off a big win -- defeating No. 8 University of California-Santa Barbara in overtime March 25.\n"They are a young team," King said. "They've been up and down. The Santa Barbara win was big for them. They have a lot of energy and will try to counterattack a lot. "\nSunday the Hoosiers take on No. 10 San Jose St. at 11:30 a.m. IU lost to the Spartans 7-6 Feb. 25 in a game the Hoosiers felt they should have won. They'll be looking for revenge this time, King said.\n"We are looking forward to that one," King said. "That is the one game we lost this year that we think we should have won... The added payback issue will help us. "\nThree seniors will play in their final regular-season home games this weekend. Attackers Krista Peterson and Kandace Waldthaler and goalie Jessica Goldner will bid farewell during senior night festivities before the UC-Davis game Saturday night.\n"I am excited," Waldthaler said. "It will be good to finally play at home in front of our friends and family. It is sad to think that it is ending soon, but we still have a lot of important games ahead of us."\nDespite the emotions of a final game, the task at hand still remains priority No. 1.\n"It will be bittersweet," Goldner said. "This is a really great group of girls and I am really going to miss playing with them. But we still need to stay focused and go out and keep winning. It will be important to finish this season out strong."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Steve Brennan at sgbrenna@indiana.edu.