It was an eventful weekend to start the season for No. 11 Indiana water polo in Santa Barbara, California. The Hoosiers took part in the University of California, Santa Barbara winter invite over the weekend, going against No. 21 California Baptist, Azusa Pacific, Iona and Ottawa.
Indiana won all four games to start the season undefeated.
The Hoosiers started the invitation Friday afternoon against No. 21 California Baptist Lancers. In a ranked matchup to start the season for both programs, the Hoosiers were hitting on all cylinders. They outscored the Lancers 7-2 in the first half and produced a shutout in the second half, adding six more goals and winning 13-2.
Senior captain center Izzy Mandema scored three goals before the fourth quarter even started. Sophomore driver Kallie White equaled Mandema’s scoring totals by notching a hat trick of her own.
“I’m really proud of the team for starting off the season so strong,” head coach Taylor Dodson said after Friday’s win. “I thought that the win was a complete team win from top to bottom. We looked a little rusty but that’s to be expected so I’m excited to get into the rest of the weekend to see how far we can push and how much better we can get every game.”
Dodson also spoke about senior goalkeeper Mary Askew’s performance in the net, saying her performance was a key part in the wins.
“She really held our defense down and allowed us to have a shutout in the second half, which is huge,” Dodson said. “The best thing about this win was that it was a complete team win and we had a lot of goals from a lot of different players.”
The Hoosiers got right back to work the next morning on a busy Saturday, where the team had two games within seven hours. The first of two would come against the Azusa Pacific Cougars, and in a closer game than Friday, the Hoosiers were still able to come out on top winning 11-6. Mandema put up another hat trick alongside freshman attacker Skylar Kidd.
Indiana’s offense continued to flourish in Saturday’s second game against the Iona University Gaels. Indiana's authority on the offensive end resulted in 18 goals scored to Iona’s eight. Eight different Indiana players scored multiple goals against the Gaels.
Mandema and Kidd led the offense throughout. Mandema started her senior season with a trio of hat tricks scoring nine total goals and freshman Kidd had seven total goals by Saturday.
Indiana continued its dominance on day three against the Ottawa University Spirit on Sunday afternoon. Indiana got off to a hot start, scoring eight goals from seven different players in just the first quarter.
The Hoosiers set a season-high 19 goals before the fourth quarter even started and went on to win 22-5. Mandema’s had hat tricks in every game. She now has a four-game streak of three goals or more.
Indiana’s offense was the main story throughout the weekend as the Hoosiers outscored their opponents 64-21.
Indiana will look to continue its dominance and stay undefeated at the Michigan Invitational in Ann Arbor this upcoming weekend.
