No. 17 Indiana water polo was unable to overcome a trio of top-25 teams in this weekend’s Fresno State Invite in Fresno, California. The Hoosiers fell to No. 10 the University of California-Davis, No. 8 Fresno State University and No. 13 Long Beach State University.
The Hoosiers started their weekend Saturday evening against No. 10 UC-Davis. The Aggies and the Hoosiers went back and forth, trading goals in the first half and the Hoosiers entered halftime trailing 4-5.
Indiana fell behind by as many as three goals in the fourth period and was unable to close the gap. Indiana held UC-Davis to under ten goals, but its offense was unable to take advantage. Indiana lost by a final score of 9-7.
Five different Hoosiers scored a goal against UC-Davis, including a hat trick from junior utility Zoe Crouch. Freshman Attacker Olivia Stark led the team with an assist with two. As for the Aggies, junior center Noelle Wijnbelt countered with a hat trick of her own. Her teammates, junior center Hailey Willams and senior center defender Allyson Clague each had two goals.
Related: [No. 17 Indiana water polo to travel out west for Fresno State Invite]
Indiana had a quick turnaround Saturday night to play the home team, No. 8 Fresno State.
The Bulldogs got out to a fast start in the first half, scoring four unanswered goals to put themselves ahead of the Hoosiers with just over six minutes to go in the second period. The Hoosiers kept themselves from being shut out in the first half as junior utility player Katherine Hawkins was able to score one goal.
The third quarter was all Hoosiers as they started the second half with back-to-back goals propelling them to outscore the Bulldogs 6-3 in the quarter. Going into the fourth quarter both teams had seven goals, and regulation time ended in an 8-8 tie.
Fresno State created a gap in the first overtime, outscoring Indiana 2-0. While Indiana outscored the Bulldogs in the second overtime 2-1, it wasn’t enough to climb out of the hole. Indiana was outdueled in overtime and lost 11-10.
Senior attacker Tina Doherty scored four goals for the Hoosiers and Crouch put up two. For the Bulldogs, freshman attacker Fanni Muzsnay led her team with a trio of goals alongside senior center Emily Nicholson and freshman utility Brooke Ochoa, who each had two goals.
Sunday morning, Indiana was still unable to turn around their offensive woes against No. 13 Long Beach State. Indiana fell behind trailing 2-4 after the first period. The second period was all Long Beach as they scored five unanswered goals to end the half.
Related: [No. 10 Indiana water polo falls flat at Michigan Invitational]
The Hoosiers improved in the second half, able to match the 49ers' goals with three of their own. However, their offense remained mostly stagnant as they lost 12-6.
Senior center Izzy Mandema and freshman utility player Portia Sasser each had two goals. Senior attacker Orsi Hertzka had four goals for the 49ers, boosted by two goals each for sophomore defender Jamie Oberman, senior defender Katie Dill, and sophomore attacker Rachael Kowalchick.
After starting the season 4-0 and scoring 64 total goals over four games, the Hoosiers have dropped off recently, going 1-6 with 62 total goals over seven games.
Indiana looks to bounce back on Feb. 25 as it competes in the Kalbus Invite in Irvine, California.
