No. 11 Indiana women’s water polo endured a difficult weekend on the road as the Hoosiers participated in the Kalbus Invitational and lost three out of four of their matchups.
Indiana came up short against No. 7 Arizona State University, No. 23 Loyola Marymount University and Pomona Pitzer College but finished the weekend with a win over No. 16 University of California, San Diego.
In Indiana’s three losses this weekend, the Hoosiers were never out of the picture. They tied LMU 11-11 with three minutes and 48 seconds left in the game.
Indiana had the talent to keep the game competitive, but the Hoosiers couldn’t clinch the win.
Still, the resilience of the team in the final stretch of the weekend impressed head coach Taylor McInerney, she said. After a weekend that felt doomed, Indiana managed to beat UCSD Sunday afternoon before heading home.
“We now know that we are more resilient than we thought we were,” McInerney said Sunday. “We were able to get ourselves out of a deep hole with our win this afternoon.”
With six minutes and 27 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Indiana’s freshman attacker Grace Klinger scored a goal to extend the lead to 10-8 against UCSD. On the following play, freshman attacker Louisa Downes found the net, which gave Indiana back-to-back goals and an 11-8 lead.
In the final minute of the game, senior utility Zoe Crouch scored a goal and Indiana won the game 12-9.
Indiana’s determination to win a ranked match-up after facing a losing stretch was a highlight of the weekend. The Hoosiers left California with a spark of momentum that could inspire good play in the upcoming matches.
“We have already done our easy games, and the rest of schedule is pretty hard,” Crouch said. “We just got to keep fighting more than the other team.”
Next weekend, Indiana will face No. 1 Stanford in the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center.
Instead of focusing on hosting the best team in the country, the Hoosiers plan to spend the week concentrating on themselves and improving their weak areas, Crouch said.
Indiana will return from California to face Stanford on March 4 at 1 p.m. in Bloomington.
