No. 19 Indiana women’s water polo spent the weekend in California competing against No. 2 University of Southern California and Whittier College. On Saturday, Indiana lost its first matchup to the Trojans and then beat the Poets later that evening. After the loss against USC, the Hoosiers are now 0-4 in conference play and are in last place in their conference rankings.
Indiana scored a season-high 25 goals against Whittier and 15 different Hoosiers contributed at least one goal. After splitting the weekend, the Hoosiers now hold a 14-11, 0-4 record.
The weekend started in Los Angeles, California, where Indiana faced USC. The Trojans are coming off a successful season after being the 2022 runners-up. USC currently holds a 20-1 record and is in second place in the conference standings.
USC put the first three goals on the board with the help of redshirt senior driver Paige Hauschild and redshirt senior driver Grace Tehaneny. Indiana’s freshman attacker Louisa Downes was able to respond with a goal of her own with four minutes and 17 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Hoosiers entered the second quarter trailing 5-1. Indiana’s sophomore center Sophia Sollie scored the sole goal for the Hoosiers in the second period. However, the Hoosiers were outscored by the Trojans 4-1 in the second quarter and went into halftime down 9-2.
After the break, Indiana was the first team to put themselves on the board with a goal from senior utility Zoe Crouch. However, Indiana was not able to keep up with the No. 2 team in the nation and lost to USC 16-4.
Indiana’s second matchup of the weekend was later that afternoon against Whittier College. Whittier is a Division III program that competes in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Hoosiers beat the Poets in a convincing fashion with a 25-2 win.
The Hoosiers started the first period with four straight goals and by halftime 12 different Hoosiers were on the board. By halftime, freshman utility Nicole Tyner had a hat trick.
Indiana returns home next weekend and hosts No. 15 Arizona State at 1 p.m. on April 1 at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center.
