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(04/26/13 2:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The No. 15 IU water polo team made school history by winning the team’s first ever CWPA Western Division Championship two weekends ago. But the season is far from over.This weekend, the Hoosiers (19-12) will partake in the CWPA Eastern Conference Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich., with a berth to the NCAA Championships tournament on the line. If IU wins the tournament, it will automatically qualify for the NCAAs. If IU takes home anything less than the first-place trophy, the season will be over.IU Coach Barry King said he expects nothing short of a trip to the NCAA tournament in May.“I’ll be honest, I think we’re the best team out here, so it would be a disappointment if we don’t go,” he said. “It will be exciting and everything if we do win it and go, but there’s an element of, ‘This is what we came to do, and this is what we thought we were capable of in the beginning.’”IU will go into the tournament as the top seed. After winning the Western Division, the Hoosiers clinched the 1-seed in this weekend’s tournament. Following a first-round bye, IU will begin play at 3:20 p.m. Friday against the winner of Bucknell and Mercyhurst. IU has not played either school this year.Saturday, however, could present the third matchup of the 2013 season between IU and its rival, No. 19 Michigan. The Wolverines defeated IU at Bloomington in the Hoosiers’ regular season finale 8-7 in overtime. But IU would get revenge in its very next game when the Wolverines and Hoosiers were scheduled to face off in the Western Division tournament’s first round. IU won 10-7.Freshman center Candyce Schroeder said she is excited to break the 1-1 tie.“I love playing Michigan,” she said. “I love beating them. I can’t wait to sing our fight song at their pool.”This weekend’s tournament will be at Michigan’s home pool, but if recent history is any indicator, that favors IU. Five of the last six games, including each of the last four, between the rival schools played at either’s home pool have resulted in a victory for the road team.Sophomore Alexis Jones said she hasn’t forgotten that fact.“Every time that we’ve played them at their pool since I’ve been here, we’ve beaten them,” she said. “I think that when we play them in our own pool we get more distracted, so I think that’ll be better for us to play them at their pool.”If the Hoosiers do win their first two games, they will play in the championship at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.If IU can win that match, it will mark the third time the Hoosiers will earn an NCAA berth, with the first two times coming in 2003 and 2011.“I think they’re ready to go, ready to play,” King said. “They understand that this is gonna require their best play, their highest attention to detail. You know, last weekend’s win was encouraging. They’re prepared and ready to give that kind of effort.”
(04/16/13 2:56pm)
Get a quick update on the leaders and upsets of the Spring Series events leading up to the big race.
(04/16/13 2:36pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Late in the 2012 men’s Little 500 race, Cutters rider Kevin Depasse attempted to bypass a Beta Theta Pi rider during turn three. Depasse slipped during the process, creating a huge crash and affecting multiple teams’ shots at the title.The third turn of the race has long been characterized as the most dangerous. While sophomore Jeff Jones of Sigma Nu agreed with this assessment, junior Teter rider Mackenzie Lloyd had different thoughts.Mackenzie Lloyd, junior, TeterIDS Is turn three the most dangerous?LLOYD I would disagree with that. I think turn four would probably be the most dangerous one. I know for us, we’re always in turn one. This is our first year we’ve done turn three, so it’s definitely going to give us a different edge as to where we burn out on the track and how we approach those tactics.IDS What makes turn four so dangerous?LLOYD If you’re directly in turn four, you have to burn out directly after the turn, get into your pit. So for us, we have the straightaway before our pit. We have a whole straightaway to burn out, so it’s kind of like an awkward going-around-the-turn, slows you down. By the time you’re in your pit, most likely the pack has already passed you.IDS How do you avoid crashes in turn four? LLOYD We always ride in what we call “Teter position.” We never stay inside toward the gutter. We’re always on the outside, either in second position or third position. If a crash does happen, we can easily avoid it by moving toward the outside. If you’re on the inside in the gutter, and if someone crosses in front of you, you’re going to go down unless you have supersonic senses or something. Our coach is really good about, during the race, telling us how our position is and if we need to change it.IDS How much do you practice on turn four?LLOYD We go every day. We try different burnouts. We try to burnout different areas of the track. We’re used to doing turn one. Now, we have to adjust how we race and where we come out of the pack to exchange riders.IDS Are there any rules that could be implemented to help?LLOYD I think it is what it is. I think it has to do with your riding experience and your riding ability. The experienced riders know how to work their bike to make it easier and make it safer and faster at the same time to go around turns. At the end of the day, your bike-handling skills are up to you and if you want to improve those or not.Jeff Jones, sophomore, Sigma NuIDS Is turn three the most dangerous?JONES Yeah, most likely, because at Fast Friday there was three wrecks in the first three laps, and I’ve never really seen wrecks anywhere else.IDS What makes turn three so dangerous?JONES I think it’s the anticipation of turn four and the start and finish line coming up right after that, so people kind of get antsy. Also, people are making exchanges coming through that. People are wanting to get out and get their exchange, so it’s kind of a more anticipated turn.IDS How do you avoid crashes in turn three?JONES Definitely just be predictable. That’s the main thing. That’s what they preach to all new riders. I guess that’s just the most important thing to try to do on the track.IDS How much do you practice on turn three?JONES We focus on it quite a bit, I’d say. Our captain always tells us, “just stay predictable, especially in turn three.” They kind of emphasize turn three a lot.IDS Are there any rules that could be implemented to help?JONES I don’t think there’s anything off the top of my head. I mean it is a race, and people are gonna be aggressive. So, implementing rules and stuff like that would probably just take away from the race and what it’s meant to be.
(04/15/13 2:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Last year, the IU water polo team set a school record with 28 wins in a season. The 2013 Hoosiers made their own history Saturday and Sunday, winning their first Collegiate Water Polo Association Western Division Championship.No. 15 IU (19-12) went 3-0 in the tournament to take home the title, defeating No. 18 Michigan 10-7, Gannon 16-5 and No. 16 and top-seeded Hartwick 12-11.“It feels great to come out of a good weekend of play as winners,” junior attacker Shae Fournier said. “The best part is that we were able to put a whole team effort in and many people were involved both offensively and defensively.”The win against Hartwick came in dramatic fashion. After jumping out to a 5-2 first quarter advantage, IU slowly relinquished its lead. Hartwick scored the next three goals over the course of a quarter and a couple minutes to it up at 5-5.After the two teams traded goals, IU went on a 3-0 run of its own before Hartwick scored again at the end of the third quarter, making it 9-7 in favor of the Hoosiers. IU scored twice and Hartwick thrice through the first five-and-a-half minutes of the final period, putting IU up 11-10.Then, with 2:25 remaining, freshman goalkeeper Jessica Gaudreault make a huge save on a Hartwick penalty shot, preserving the IU lead. The Hoosiers continued to hold off the Hawks, but not for long. With 32 seconds remaining, Hartwick tied the score at 11-11.“Their last goal was stressful, but I know as a player you have to move on to the next play,” Fournier said. “Our mindset can’t stay on their last goal. We needed to shift gears to being able to put one away ourselves.”They did just that. On IU’s next possession, Fournier drew an exclusion, giving the Hoosiers a 6-on-5 advantage. Fournier then took charge and scored the winning goal with just four seconds remaining on the clock.“I think knowing my team and coaches trust me in that situation allows me to feel confidence in taking that shot,” Fournier said. “And I know it has to score so I do everything in my power to do that.”The game-winner was Fournier’s second of her career that came at the last second. Last year against Long Beach State, she netted a score with 0.3 seconds remaining for a 7-6 Hoosier victory.IU’s wins against Michigan and Hartwick were revenge for losses in recent matches against each. Hartwick defeated IU 8-7 on Feb. 16, and Michigan beat the Hoosiers in their regular season finale on March 30, 8-7 in overtime.Fournier couldn’t choose one over the other as being sweeter revenge.“I don’t think I can say either win is more satisfying,” she said. “Both games were equally important in winning the title this weekend, but also in bringing the team together and giving us good momentum going into Eastern Championships.”IU’s postseason ventures resume April 26-28 in Ann Arbor, Mich., where the CWPA Eastern Conference Championships take place. The winner of the 12-team tournament clinches a spot in the eight-team NCAA Championships tournament in May. IU has qualified for the tournament twice in school history — 2003 and 2011.Fournier said she believes winning the Western Division Championships can carry her team to another NCAA berth.“The momentum coming from this weekend is huge,” she said. “Not only does it give us confidence going into these games, but it also distinguishes us as the top team going into the weekend. It’s easier going into a tough weekend knowing we were able to pull through this weekend.”
(04/12/13 3:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The No. 15 IU water polo team ended its 2013 regular season with a 8-7 overtime loss to No. 18 Michigan. This weekend, IU (16-12) gets a shot at revenge, as the team begins its first of possibly three postseason tournaments, the CWPA Western Division Championships taking place in Geneva, Ohio.The Hoosiers’ first opponent will be the archrival Wolverines. The match begins at 2:15 p.m. Saturday.“I’m definitely excited to play them again, because last time, it was a rough ending, not really what we wanted,” sophomore Summer Creighton said. “Now we get a chance to prove that we’re the better team. It’s always fun to play a rivalry game.”IU is 14-42-2 all-time against Michigan, but has won three of the past five matchups.IU Coach Barry King said both he and his team need to adjust this time around if the Hoosiers are to defeat the Wolverines.“For me personally, we’ve got to do something about our substitution patterns,” he said. “Our rotations need to be a little bit crisper. From a team, effort wise, we have to do a better job of playing the fourth quarter like we play the first quarter.“We did a lot of really good things defensively in the first quarter. We kind of took steps backwards in the fourth and allowed the action to come at us a little bit too much.”One new advantage IU could have against Michigan is freshman goalkeeper Jessica Gaudreault. The normal starter in goal, Gaudreault sat out against Michigan two weekends ago with an elbow injury.King said he’s not sure yet who will start against whom between Gaudreault and freshman goalkeeper Mary Campbell, but he said Gaudreault will play this weekend and is around 95-percent back to full strength.Regardless if IU wins or loses in its first matchup, the second game will come later Saturday, either at 7 p.m. (with a loss) or 8:30 p.m. (with a win). No. 16 Hartwick, Gannon and Notre Dame (Ohio) will play in a round-robin format for their first round of play. If IU beats Michigan, it will face the second-place team of the trio. If IU loses its first match, it will face the third-place team.On Sunday, the Hoosiers will play at either 10 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. depending on how the first day pans out, as long as they do not lose twice Saturday.Despite IU possessing the highest national ranking of the five teams, the Hoosiers are the No. 3 seed for this tournament because of their 2-2 divisional record.Both Creighton and sophomore Shelby Taylor expressed their desire to face top-seeded Hartwick after the Michigan matchup. Although IU beat Hartwick 9-6 earlier this year, the Hawks defeated the Hoosiers in a rematch 13 days later 8-7.“I want to play Hartwick again,” Taylor said. “We lost to them the last time we played them. I don’t even want to talk about it, it was ridiculous. But it’ll definitely be good to go in there and prove that there was no way we should have lost that game.”In terms of postseason significance, King, Creighton and Taylor all agreed this tournament was low on the totem pole. The real goal is to win the CWPA Eastern Conference Championships on April 26-28, where the winner clinches a spot in the eight-team NCAA Championships tournament in May.Still, Taylor said it’s important mentally to be successful in this weekend’s tournament.“I don’t think physically or seeding wise it’s important to do well this weekend, but I think mentally it is,” she said. “If we come out first, we’re gonna have a far better attitude going into Easterns than we possibly could if we come out not first this weekend.”
(03/31/13 7:47pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Hoosiers waited all year for a clash with their arch rivals. The drama of the game lived up to the hype, but in the end, IU’s efforts came up just short.The No. 12 water polo team (16-12) lost a heartbreaker on senior night Saturday, falling to No. 19 Michigan in overtime 8-7 at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.“It was definitely important to us, and we fought hard, but we’d rather take a loss now than at the championships,” junior attacker Shae Fournier said. “We’re just looking forward to our championships and knowing we have something to work for.” IU is now 14-42-2 all-time against Michigan.The game was a back-and-forth affair, as no team ever held a lead larger than one goal. There were seven ties and four lead changes.As the lone senior on the team, attacker Jakie Köhli helped lead the Hoosiers in her final home game ever by scoring two goals, including IU’s final score that put the team up 7-6 in the fourth quarter.Köhli said she was disappointed with the loss, but senior night wasn’t a factor.“Honestly, the fact that it was senior night didn’t really change anything,” Köhli said. “I always go out there and play my hardest for any game, regardless if it’s at home or not. I would be equally upset if we had lost at any other pool against this team.”Fournier added two goals of her own, while junior attacker Meghan Lappan and sophomores Rebecca Gerrity and Colleen McNaught each added a score.With usual starting goalkeeper freshman Jessica Gaudreault out with an elbow injury, freshman Mary Campbell made her sixth start of the year in goal and made a season- and career-best 15 saves on the day.After Michigan struck first in the opening quarter, Fournier and Lappan answered by scoring two consecutive goals for the Hoosiers, both of which came from fast-break scrambles. With no one scoring in the second quarter, IU went into halftime with a 2-1 lead.Although the fast-break scoring slowed significantly in the second half, the scoring increased. Michigan outscored IU 3-2 in the third quarter, and both teams scored thrice in the final period to end regulation in a 7-7 tie.The two teams traded a couple scoreless possessions to begin the first of two three-minute overtime periods. Then, Michigan fired in a shot that hit the right post of the goal and bounced in with 52 seconds remaining in the first overtime. Neither team scored during the remainder of the game, leaving Michigan the 8-7 victors.“We both kind of shut each other’s counter down in the second half, up until their final goal,” IU Coach Barry King said. “These games are always grinds. We’re entirely familiar with each other. … Overall, I thought we did a good job really sticking to the plan and exposing their weaknesses that we thought were there. We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, and that was the problem.”The back-and-forth nature of the game wasn’t a style Köhli particularly enjoyed.“I don’t really like the back-and-forth goals, because it means that one team is either always coming back from being behind, and you always want to be up instead of behind,” she said. “I hope that next time we just get up and stay up.”This was the second time this season an IU match needed extra time to determine a winner. The Hoosiers defeated Cal-Baptist 9-8 in overtime back on March 15.Fournier said that although fatigue was a factor in the extra sessions, it was no excuse for the loss.“It definitely affects you,” she said. “It was a hard-fought game already, but it’s affecting them the same amount, so I don’t think that should play too much of a factor.”With IU’s regular season now complete, the Hoosiers have next week off before the CWPA Western Division Championships take place April 13-14. After that, IU will partake in the CWPA Eastern Conference Championships April 26-28 and possibly the NCAA Championships May 10-12.The Hoosiers have a possibility of facing Michigan again in both of the former tournaments, and Fournier sees revenge in her future.“Definitely,” she said. “It’s definitely going to be a comeback story when we beat them at championships.”
(03/29/13 5:04am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Last week, IU Coach Barry King called it the game his water polo team has been looking forward to since last May.The day has finally arrived.The No. 12 IU water polo team (16-11) will face off against its archrival No. 19 Michigan (13-10) at noon Saturday in the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.It will be the final regular season game for IU before the CWPA Western Division and Eastern Conference championships begin in April.“I’m so excited,” senior attacker Jakie Köhli said. “Usually we play them three or four times a year, so by the third or fourth time we’re like, ‘OK, one more time,’ but this year, it’s our first game, and it’s a home tournament, so it’s really exciting. I’m really pumped.” If IU and Michigan don’t meet during the postseason, this will be the only time since IU became a varsity program in 1998 that the duo will face off only once in a season. The Wolverines own a major advantage against the Hoosiers in the win-loss column. Michigan is 41-14-2 all-time against IU. The Hoosiers have gotten the upper hand recently, however, winning three of the past four matchups.King said he thinks fortunes have fallen with IU recently, as opposed to with Michigan earlier in the rivalry.“I think some of the breaks have gone our way,” he said. “We’ve always just kind of been there and had a bounce go against and that kind of thing. More recently, I think, we’ve had more bounces go our way than against.” Balance is one aspect IU will need to account for against Michigan. The Wolverines have claimed nine separate CWPA weekly awards this year by five different players. IU has won only three awards by three separate players.King said he isn’t intimidated by those numbers.“We have pretty good players, too, and we’ve demonstrated a certain amount of balance also,” he said. “This game always comes down to who’s most prepared defensively. We’re gonna have our best defenders on their best offensive players, and we’ll go from there.”Freshman center Candyce Schroeder hasn’t played Michigan yet in her career, but she said she’s expecting a tough, physical match.“They’re pretty athletic, and they play pretty well as a team,” she said. “They’re really physical, so we have to match how physical they are.”The match will be of particular significance for Köhli. It will be her final home game of her IU career Although she will never play a match in Bloomington again, Köhli said the emotions haven’t hit her yet.“It’s not my last game with the team, so it’s not gonna be too different,” she said. “I probably won’t start feeling really sad until my last tournament, so I’m just gonna go in like any other game — play my heart out, play to win.”Throughout her career, Köhli has scored 233 goals, which is second-best all-time in IU’s record books. Only Kristin Stanford has scored more times with 246 goals. Köhli also has 267 steals and 126 assists in her career, good for fourth and second all-time, respectively.One of the aspects Köhli will remember most about the IU-Michigan rivalry is the particular crowd noise made in both Bloomington and Ann Arbor. When asked to describe the rivalry in one word, she instead came up with three.“Intense and very loud,” she said. “Every time we play them, it’s usually at our pool or their pool, so our fans will just go crazy. At their pool, they have a cowbell that’s really annoying, and they have their a cappella group that comes out and sings. So, their’s is a really annoying loud, and ours is get-pumped-up loud, because everyone’s just cheering us on.”Schroeder said she admires Köhli’s leadership and hopes the team can get a win for her senior night.“Jakie’s a really good team-leader,” she said. “Everyone looks up to her, she’s always encouraging us, she has a great work ethic. I think it’s more a win for her if we can all come together as a team for her last game.”King also praised Köhli’s contributions to IU.“Jakie’s meant a lot to the program,” he said. “I think at the end of the day, she’s going to prove to be the best all-around player that we’ve ever had here. We want that reflected positively in her last contest here.”Köhli said a victory against the Wolverines would be a terrific home send off for her final home game as a Hoosier.“It would be amazing, and I think we can do it,” she said.
(03/28/13 7:58pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Last week, IU Coach Barry King called it the game his water polo team has been looking forward to since last May 2012.The day has finally arrived.The No. 12 IU water polo team (16-11) will face off against its archrival No. 19 Michigan (13-10) at noon Saturday at home in the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center, located in the Student Recreational Sports Center. It will be the final regular season game for IU before the CWPA Western Division and Eastern Conference championships begin in April.“I’m so excited,” senior attacker Jakie Köhli said. “Usually we play them three or four times a year, so by the third or fourth time we’re like, ‘OK, one more time,’ but this year, it’s our first game, and it’s a home tournament, so it’s really exciting. I’m really pumped.” If IU and Michigan don’t meet during the postseason, this will be the only time since IU became a varsity program in 1998 that the duo will face off only once in a season. As the only two Big Ten schools with varsity women’s water polo teams, IU and Michigan have met as frequently as six times in a year (1999) and as few as twice (2008, 2009, 2011).The Wolverines own a major advantage against the Hoosiers in the win-loss column. Michigan is 41-14-2 all-time against IU, but only 15 matches have been decided by more than two goals. The Hoosiers have gotten the upper hand recently, winning three of the past four matchups.King said he thinks fortunes have fallen with IU recently, as opposed to with Michigan earlier in the rivalry.“I think some of the breaks have gone our way,” he said. “We’ve always just kind of been there and had a bounce go against and that kind of thing. More recently, I think, we’ve had more bounces go our way than against.” Balance is one aspect IU will need to account for against Michigan. The Wolverines have claimed nine separate CWPA weekly awards this year by five different players. In comparison, IU has won three awards by three separate players.King isn’t intimidated by those numbers.“We have pretty good players, too, and we’ve demonstrated a certain amount of balance also,” he said. “This game always comes down to who’s most prepared defensively. We’re gonna have our best defenders on their best offensive players, and we’ll go from there.”Freshman center Candyce Schroeder hasn’t played Michigan yet in her career, but she said she’s expecting a tough, physical match.“They’re pretty athletic, and they play pretty well as a team,” she said. “They’re really physical, so we have to match how physical they are. I think we’ll have a really good game.”The match will be of particular significance for Köhli. It will be her final home game of her IU career. She is the lone senior on the team. Although she will never play a match in Bloomington ever again, Köhli said the emotions haven’t hit her yet.“It’s not my last game with the team, so it’s not gonna be too different,” she said. “I probably won’t start feeling really sad until my last tournament, so I’m just gonna go in like any other game — play my heart out, play to win.”Throughout her career, Köhli has scored 233 goals, which is second-best all-time in IU’s record books. Only Kristin Stanford has scored more times with 246 goals. Köhli also has 267 steals and 126 assists in her career, good for fourth and second all-time, respectively.One of the aspects Köhli will remember most about the IU-Michigan rivalry is the particular crowd noise made in both Bloomington and Ann Arbor. When asked to describe the rivalry in one word, she instead came up with three.“Intense and very loud,” she said. “Every time we play them, it’s usually at our pool or their pool, so our fans will just go crazy. At their pool, they have a cowbell that’s really annoying, and they have their a cappella group that comes out and sings. So, their’s is a really annoying loud, and ours is get-pumped-up loud, because everyone’s just cheering us on.”Schroeder said she admires Köhli’s leadership and hopes the team can get a win for her senior night.“Jakie’s a really good team-leader,” she said. “Everyone looks up to her, she’s always encouraging us, she has a great work ethic. I think it’s more a win for her if we can all come together as a team for her last game.”King also praised Köhli’s contributions to IU.“Jakie’s meant a lot to the program,” he said. “I think at the end of the day, she’s going to prove to be the best all-around player that we’ve ever had here. We want that reflected positively in her last contest here.”Köhli said a victory against the Wolverines would be a terrific home send off.“It would be amazing, and I think we can do it,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to this weekend.”
(03/25/13 4:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Last Wednesday, IU water polo Coach Barry King and his players stressed the need for the team to come out of the Gannon Tournament with two wins and no losses.The No. 12 IU water polo team (16-11) did just that Saturday. The Hoosiers defeated division foes Notre Dame (Ohio) 14-8 and Gannon 16-4. IU is now 19-0 combined against the two schools all-time.The two wins also improved IU’s conference record to 3-1 and helped for a better seeding come the CWPA Western Division and Eastern Conference championships in April.Junior attacker Shae Fournier said the victories helped the Hoosiers’ confidence for next weekend.“The wins were definitely big in giving us some momentum and confidence going into our Michigan game next weekend,” she said. “It also gave us some time to work out a few kinks from last weekend.”Fournier said IU’s success was attributed to an all-around team effort.“I think the biggest factor was putting every aspect of the game together,” she said. “Our defensive stops created many openings in transition which resulted in goals or just set us up well to play offense. I wouldn’t say I am unhappy with anything. I think it was good to put two solid games together and get everyone involved in the wins.”Fournier’s individual effort was a big factor, too.Against Notre Dame, she scored six goals to set a career-high and tie an IU single-game record. It was the 10th time in school history the feat has been accomplished. Senior attacker Jakie Köhli has done so twice, with the most recent occasion occurring April 30, 2011 against Hartwick.“I wasn’t aware about the record and didn’t even realize how many goals I had,” Fournier said. “I don’t really think about things like that. I just happened to be in an open position to shoot and capitalized on that opportunity. I wasn’t trying to get a record, I just saw open shots and took them.”Fournier’s six scores led the Hoosiers on the day. She has 48 goals on the season, second only to Köhli’s 49.Other scoring highlights included juniors Amanda Redfern and Meghan Lappan each tallying a hat trick against Gannon. Redfern netted four goals on the day, while Lappan, Köhli and sophomore Summer Creighton each had three. Eleven different Hoosiers scored at least once.In net, freshman goalkeeper Mary Campbell made both starts while recording 21 saves, bringing her season totals to five and 65, respectively.IU now only has one more regular season game before the postseason tournaments in April and, if the team does well enough, May. Next weekend, the team will play against rival Michigan at home, a game that will determine IU’s final conference record and subsequent seeding.Fournier said this weekend’s games set the Hoosiers up well for the showdown next week.“These games were great for our confidence and momentum for next weekend,” she said. “Definitely a positive experience that will help us next week.”
(03/22/13 12:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Hoosiers’ nonconference season is finished. Only three regular season games remain on the No. 12 IU water polo team’s schedule before postseason division and conference tournaments begin.On Saturday, IU (14-11) will compete in two of those matches. The Hoosiers will face division foes Notre Dame (Ohio) and Gannon at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively, in the Gannon Tournament, taking place in Erie, Pa.Gannon is ranked No. 10 out of 12 teams in the CWPA Eastern Conference. Notre Dame is unranked in the conference, but it received votes in the most recent poll. Both teams are Division-II schools.With postseason seeding at stake, sophomore Alexis Jones said the team’s remaining regular season games carry extra importance.“It’s very important, because everything starts to count at this point,” she said. “And it all goes into seedings for the end of season. It’s really important to try and get first, second seed at the beginning.”IU Coach Barry King agreed.“This is everything,” he said. “How you position yourself for the conference championship, your path through the tournament, stuff like that is of the utmost importance. We really pretty much need to win out from here and really make the strength of our schedule early worthwhile. That’s what that was all about, was to prepare us to make runs through our conference. It’s pretty much everything right now.”IU is 16-0 all-time against Gannon with an average winning margin of 8.75 goals.Jones said experience is the main reason for the Hoosiers’ success against the Golden Knights.“Definitely experience,” she said. “We have a lot of players that have been playing since they were really young, and we practice a lot more with practice restrictions. It gives us a chance to work a lot more.”On the other hand, last year was the only time IU and Notre Dame faced off. The Hoosiers defeated the Falcons 16-7.With 18 players listed on IU’s roster compared to only 11 for Notre Dame, junior defender Amanda Redfern said the Hoosiers’ depth will give them an advantage.“Depth is very helpful, because it allows people to get a rest,” she said. “It just allows people to take a break and refocus if they need to work on anything else, so it allows us time to get out of the pool and see what we need to work on from an outside perspective.”With both the Western Division Championships and Eastern Conference Championships approaching in April, the possibility of facing one or both of these teams again in either tournament exists.Redfern said this weekend’s matchups will help should IU see one of these teams again come tournament time.“It’s great, because it allows us to see how they play and allows us to learn their strengths and their weaknesses,” she said. “We’re able to work on that during practices and see what we need to fix.”IU’s home matchup against archrival Michigan is lying ahead in the regular season finale. Although the rivalry is always on his and his players’ minds, King is confident IU won’t overlook either D-II school this weekend.“You know, we’ve been looking forward to that Michigan match since May of last year, that’s just kind of the nature of the rivalry,” he said. “But we’ll make sure that we take care of business this weekend.”
(03/18/13 2:59pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The first half of the weekend went perfectly for IU’s water polo team. The Hoosiers were not so fortunate in the second half.The No. 11 team went 3-3 overall on the weekend, stringing together a three-game winning streak to begin and a three-game losing streak to end. The Hoosiers now stand at 14-11 overall.“In our first three games we had a lot of calls in our favor and the momentum continued to stay on our side,” sophomore attacker Colleen McNaught said. “In the last three games, we played just as hard as the first three, but sometimes when a few calls don’t go your way it quickly changes the final outcome of the game.”On Friday, IU went a perfect 2-0 in the Lancer Invite in Riverside, Calif. by beating Cal-Baptist 9-8 in overtime and Wagner 9-6.The victory against Wagner was IU’s second of the season. The Hoosiers defeated the Seahawks 15-12 on Feb. 17.On Saturday and Sunday, IU went over to San Diego for the Aztec Invitational. The Hoosiers began the event successfully by defeating No. 8 Hawaii, 8-6. It was IU’s first win of the year against a team ranked as high as No. 8.The win was vengeance for a 14-6 loss to Hawaii on Feb. 2.Later that night, IU’s losing streak began with a 12-11 loss to No. 7 San Diego State. The Aztecs were given seven penalty shots in the contest and scored on six of them. The seven shots more than doubled the total amount IU had given up all year.This was the third and final rematch for IU on the weekend. The Hoosiers were defeated by the Aztecs back on Jan. 20, 11-5.The losing streak continued Sunday as IU lost to No. 17 UC San Diego 10-7 and No. 13 Cal State Northridge, 8-7.McNaught said playing six games in three days was physically taxing, but it wasn’t why the weekend ended with three consecutive losses.“It definitely takes a toll on your body physically, but mentally we have to remind ourselves to stay disciplined before each game,” she said. “It also helps to know that each team we are playing is feeling about the same as us.”Senior attacker Jakie Köhli continued to climb up IU’s record book during the weekend. She passed Krista Peterson’s mark of 224 career goals to move into second place all-time for a Hoosier and now only trails Kristin Stanford’s 246. After scoring a team-leading 14 goals during the weekend, Köhli now has 226 scores in her career and 46 on the season.IU is now done with nonconference play for the 2013 season. The Hoosiers will play three more regular season games against conference foes before postseason play begins.
(03/08/13 3:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Of the 15 matches the No. 11 IU water polo team has participated in this season, 10 have been against Division I teams ranked No. 16 or higher. This weekend in the Claremont Convergence, the Hoosiers will face four more highly-ranked teams, but of the Division III variety.IU will battle No. 2 Cal-Lutheran at 2:20 p.m. and No.1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 9 p.m. March 9. Then, on March 10, IU will play No. 5 Occidental and No. 4 Redlands on March 10 at the same times as March 9, respectively. The invitational takes place in Pamona, Calif., and after a weekend off for the Hoosiers.Junior attacker Shae Fournier said it will be nice to take a break from a brutal schedule to face some smaller schools.“I think it will be good to put everything together and just have things work for us,” she said. “It’s hard working against good teams when we know we’re playing well but it’s just a tough match, so this will be good for us.”IU Coach Barry King said the games March 9-10 will be a good opportunity to expand his players’ versatility.“(We won’t try new) gimmicks, but we might try people in some new positions or things like that,” he said. “Just things that are a little bit outside of what they have been doing right now to see if we can expand their roles.”The Hoosiers might be looking to play around with the lineup a little bit, but Fournier said she is confident her team won’t overlook any of the Division III schools.“I’m not worried we will,” she said. “I know if we did, they could definitely upset us, so we just need to go and focus, but I think we’re pretty ready for that, so we’re excited for some games after a weekend off, and we’ll be ready to play.”This will be the third year in a row IU and Redlands will face off. IU won the past two years by scores of 13-10 in 2011 and 14-7 in 2012. Overall, the Hoosiers are 7-0 against the Bulldogs, but junior attacker Meghan Lappan said the Bulldogs’ effort can make them dangerous.“They’re one of those teams that’s gonna keep coming and coming,” she said. “They’re never gonna give up when we’re playing them, so just be ready to give as much heart as they do.”This weekend will mark five games in a row in which IU has faced a Division III team. The Hoosiers’ most recent 2013 contest was a 15-1 victory against Division III No. 10 Washington and Jefferson on Feb. 24.King said the competition between Division I and Division III schools benefits both sides.“We want contests in that those groups want to play us too, so it’s mutually beneficial,” he said. “We hope that we perform well, and we treat them equally the same. We want to hopefully be able to get better with each contest that we’re playing. The end of the week is a bit more loaded as far as ranked teams go, so we’re hoping that these can kind of help us build and get better and get us ready for the end of the week.”That end of the week includes the Lancer Invite on March 15 in Riverside, Calif., and the Aztec Invitational on March 16-17 in San Diego, Calif.The Aztec Invitational will bring IU back to a tough schedule. All the Hoosiers’ opponents will be against Division I teams, and three will be against ranked teams — No. 7 San Diego State, No. 8 Hawaii and No. 15 Cal State Northridge.King said this weekend’s play will help his squad prepare for the Division I teams.“I think a lot of people will get a lot of time,” he said. “We’ll have a lot of opportunities to get sharper, to work on some things that maybe you don’t get as expressed in games against the ranked teams that tend to be a little bit more of grinds. Hopefully we’ll get a little bit more confidence in what we’re doing offensively.”The team will not return to Bloomington between March 9-10 and March 16-17 since every match will be in California. During the sandwiched week, IU will practice in Las Vegas to stay sharp.Lappan and Fournier both expressed enthusiasm about spending their spring break out west.“Really excited,” Lappan said. “It’s nice to get away from the snow and get some new scenery, especially California, where a lot of these girls are from. Vegas, too.”Fournier agreed.“Definitely,” she said of looking forward to break. “It’s gonna be nice to get away from the snow, and we’ll just be doing what we want – playing water polo and being in the sun, so we’ll be happy.”
(02/25/13 4:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It was a bittersweet homecoming for the No. 11 IU water polo team. In their first home matches of the 2013 season, the Hoosiers won their first and third games of the Fluid Four by a combined total of 31-6, but lost their only match against a ranked opponent.IU began the invitational Saturday with a 16-5 win in an exhibition match against Montreal club team Dollard Des Ormeaux (DDO). But later that night, the Hoosiers fell to No. 10 Long Beach State 7-4. To conclude the weekend, IU defeated Washington and Jefferson 15-1 Sunday morning.Ten different players scored in the first and final matches, and 14 total found the net at least once during the weekend.“It’s looking a lot better,” junior attacker Carson Nestler said of IU’s teamwork. “Every game it gets so much more fluid and smooth with our chemistry, passing, shooting and everything like that.”Nestler didn’t score against DDO, but made the most of her opportunity Sunday. She scored five of six shots against Washington and Jefferson, which tied the second-best goal-scoring performance in IU history. It marked the 47th time a Hoosier scored at least five goals in a game. Only the ninth time a Hoosier scored as many as six goals, including twice by senior attacker Jakie Köhli.Nestler didn’t think it felt like anything extraordinary.“I got in the water and felt good,” she said. “I felt like, ‘Why not play just like any other day?’ I was getting looks. I was getting opportunities. I felt fast and when I needed to, I put the ball in the cage.”Nestler said she didn’t even realize how close she was to the record until she came out of the game for good in the third quarter.“Everyone wanted me to go back in to score more to beat it, but that’s not why I was playing,” she said. “I always want to play. You beat a record, that’s fine, but just as long as I’m playing my best, it doesn’t really matter, the numbers.”The numbers that did matter contributed to IU’s loss against Long Beach State.Sophomore Shelby Taylor and freshman center Candyce Schroeder scored in the first and second quarters respectively to give IU a 2-0 halftime lead.Freshman goalkeeper Jessica Gaudreault made 10 big saves in the first half.“She was solid, but it was part of what we were doing out in front of her,” IU Coach Barry King said. “People were shot-blocking. People were attacking shooters. As soon as we stopped doing it, they started seeing shooting lanes. We just stopped.”The stoppage King referred to occurred in the second half. The 49ers scored four goals in the third quarter and three in the fourth. Köhli added two scores in the half, but it wasn’t enough.King said his team’s lack of aggression in the second half is what led to Long Beach State’s comeback.“We stopped being aggressive going down the pool in our offensive counter attack,” he said. “It all started on the defensive end where we have been terrific in attacking and forcing them into some off-balance stuff. For some reason we started settling back and not attacking them down the pool, not forcing them to take those off-balance looks."That just went against us. They want to grind, they want to be in a half-court situation. We want to swim, we want to make them have to play us all over the floor. We just stopped doing that in the second half.”Nestler thinks her team members will learn from the loss.“[We learned] that we can definitely play a lot better than we did last night,” she said Sunday. “And we just need to keep working in practice, keep working as a team, and hopefully when we’re in California for spring break we can do some good stuff.”
(02/22/13 1:56am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Hoosiers finally get to play at home.Through 13 games, the No. 11 IU water polo team has traveled as far as Palo Alto, Calif., and as close as Ann Arbor, Mich., for competitions, but has yet to play in Indiana, let alone Bloomington.That will change this weekend as the Hoosiers facilitate the Fluid Four Saturday and Sunday in the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center, located in the Student Recreational Sports Center.IU begins the weekend with an exhibition match against Dollard Des Ormeaux, a club team based in Montreal, at 10 a.m. Saturday. The Hoosiers will face No. 10 Long Beach State later that day at 7:20 p.m. Then, at 10:20 a.m. Sunday, IU will battle a Division III school in Washington and Jefferson to conclude the weekend.Freshman center Candyce Schroeder said she is ready for her first career home game at IU.“I haven’t had a home game yet, so I’m excited for that experience,” she said. “All the older girls say it’s a lot of fun, and the stands are going to be pretty packed.”While IU Coach Barry King agreed it’s fun to play in front of a home crowd, he said playing in Bloomington could actually be detrimental.“Typically, it’s a disadvantage,” he said. “We’re really good at traveling because we do it so much. The infrequency of being home tends to add a few more distractions than normal. So actually we try to act like we’re on the road even though we’re home, try to get into that kind of schedule.”On the other hand, junior defender Amanda Redfern said she thinks playing at home will help.“I don’t think I agree with that, because having your fans that will pump you up just makes you excited,” she said. “You want to play better to show them how good you are, and you want to show off.”IU’s match against DDO will be the second time in as many years the team has partook in an exhibition match against a club team from Canada. Last year, the Hoosiers defeated the Calgary Renegades 12-5.Despite it not counting in the win-loss column, Redfern said she is treating the match like any other.“I don’t think it’s different than any normal game,” she said. “We treat all of our games the same, and we always go in and focus on what we need to work on, so it’s the same as any other game.“When the Hoosiers face Long Beach State, it will be the second weekend in a row IU has battled a team ranked No. 10. The last team to occupy that ranking, Princeton, fell to the Hoosiers 4-2 last Sunday.Last year, IU defeated Long Beach State 7-6, thanks to a long-range shot from then-sophomore Shae Fournier with just .3 seconds remaining on the clock.King said he expects another intense matchup.“Big, physical group,” he said of the 49ers. “They have some good skill kids. Their M.O. is to be big and physical, and so far that’s kind of caused us some problems this season, so it will be a super, super test for us. We had a blood bath with them last year over spring break, and these are essentially the same squads. It should be a great game.”IU is 11-0 all-time against Washington and Jefferson with an average winning margin of 13.6 goals in those contests.This will be the Presidents’ first weekend of play for the 2013 season, and King said he believes that will put them at a disadvantage.“It’s always good to have a certain amount of rhythm,” he said. “We’ve got 13 games under our belt where we’re finding our legs and learning about each other. It will be difficult for them trying to sort that out amongst the competition that they’re going to face this weekend.”One other team will participate in the Fluid Four: No. 19 Michigan. It will be the second time this season the Hoosiers and their archrivals will be in the same invitational without facing each other. They will duel, however, in IU’s final regular season game March 30.Schroeder said she would like to battle the Wolverines but watching them one more time will be beneficial come the end of the year.“I think it’s an advantage to see them play one more time and watch their plays, and we can watch more videos,” she said. “But I think we’re ready to play them, and we’re ready to beat them.”
(02/15/13 4:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Of the nine games the No. 12 IU water polo team has played so far, seven have been against teams ranked higher than the Hoosiers.This Saturday and Sunday, IU (3-6) will catch a break from the rough schedule as it will participate in the Bison Invitational in Lewisburg, Pa. Beginning 10:20 a.m. Saturday, IU will face the division rival Hartwick Hawks (5-6). Then, at 4:10 p.m., IU will battle the Villanova Wildcats (0-7). At 8 a.m. Sunday, the Hoosiers will try to defeat the Wagner Seahawks (3-1) and then the No. 10 Princeton Tigers (3-1) at 12:40 p.m.“I think we’re really excited,” sophomore attacker Colleen McNaught said. “I know a couple weekends ago, we had some really tough competition. I think this weekend, we’re back in our element a little bit more.”IU defeated Hartwick in its most recent outing by a score of 9-6 on Feb. 3. It was the Hoosiers’ first match and victory in conference play.Sophomore Shelby Taylor sees the importance of conference play, but that doesn’t mean she wants to beat Hartwick any more than any other opponent.“Conference games are always important,” she said. “You have to win them for later on, but I just want to win all the games. Doesn’t really matter who.”Villanova is the first winless team IU has faced since taking on a 0-1 Colorado State squad on Jan. 19. The Wildcats have been outscored 108-31 on the year, an average losing margin of 11.IU Coach Barry King said his players focusing on themselves will be key to not overlooking a winless team.“The easiest way to is to make sure we’re talking about us, the things we need to do to get better every time,” he said. “We’ll talk about fundamentals, we’ll talk about individual touches, we’ll talk about us, and that’s the way you avoid certain traps like that.”Wagner began the season unranked and still is, but the Seahawks received votes in the most recent poll after going 1-1 against then No. 20 Brown last weekend and only falling by one goal.King said he was surprised by Wagner’s success.“I didn’t expect what they did this weekend,” he said. “They’re well-coached, so I imagine they’ll be organized. They’ve got a couple freshmen that seem to be productive for them. They’ll bring everything they have, and hopefully we’ll do the same.”Princeton looks to be IU’s toughest competition of the weekend as its highest ranked opponent. Tigers goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson made CWPA history by becoming the first player ever to win Southern Division Player of the Week, Defensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week after her first collegiate weekend.McNaught said she thinks battling Johnson will be more mental than physical.“We need to get it out of our head that the goalie is a brick wall,” she said. “Once we realize she’s not that good, she just gets up, we can shoot on her. We shoot on goalies every day. Once we get that out of our head and we just start shooting the way that we know how, we’ll be fine.”Scoring early only to cool off has been a theme for IU thus far. The Hoosiers have outscored their opponents 20-16 in the first quarter, but trail in periods two through four by a margin of 71-45.Taylor said she thinks her team has the ability to turn that trend around.“I think with a lot of the really high-ranked teams we’ve played, when we’ve come out scoring so well and beating them, we’ve literally shocked ourselves into being scared and not playing that way for the rest of the game even though we have the ability to,” she said. “We’ve just got to believe we’re good.”
(02/14/13 8:29pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Of the nine games the No. 12 IU water polo team has played so far, seven have been against teams ranked higher than the Hoosiers, and only one was against an unranked foe.This Saturday and Sunday, IU (3-6) will catch a break from the rough schedule as it will participate in the Bison Invitational in Lewisburg, Penn. Beginning at 10:20 a.m. Saturday, IU will face the division rival Hartwick Hawks (5-6). Then, at 4:10 p.m., IU will battle the Villanova Wildcats (0-7). At 8 a.m. Sunday, the Hoosiers will try to defeat the Wagner Seahawks (3-1) and then the No. 10 Princeton Tigers (3-1) at 12:40 p.m.“I think we’re really excited,” sophomore attacker Colleen McNaught said. “I know a couple weekends ago, we had some really tough competition. I think this weekend, we’re back in our element a little bit more ... I think we’re going to do really well this weekend.”IU defeated Hartwick in its most recent outing by a score of 9-6 back on Feb. 3. It was the Hoosiers’ first match and victory in conference play.Sophomore Shelby Taylor sees the importance of conference play, but that doesn’t mean she wants to beat Hartwick any more than any other opponent.“Conference games are always important,” she said. “You have to win them for later on, but I just want to win all the games. Doesn’t really matter who.”Villanova is the first winless team IU has faced since taking on a 0-1 Colorado State squad on Jan. 19. The Wildcats have been outscored 108-31 on the year, an average losing margin of 11.IU Coach Barry King said his players focusing on themselves will be key to not overlooking a winless team.“The easiest way to is to make sure we’re talking about us, the things we need to do to get better every time,” he said. “We’ll talk about fundamentals, we’ll talk about individual touches, we’ll talk about us, and that’s the way you avoid certain traps like that.”Wagner began the season unranked and still is, but the Seahawks received some votes in the most recent poll after going 1-1 against then No. 20 Brown last weekend and only falling by one goal in the loss.King was surprised by Wagner’s success.“I didn’t expect what they did this weekend,” he said. “They’re well-coached, so I imagine they’ll be organized. They’ve got a couple freshmen that seem to be productive for them. They’ll bring everything they have, and hopefully we’ll do the same.”Princeton looks to be IU’s toughest competition of the weekend. Tiger freshman goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson made CWPA history by becoming the first player ever to win Southern Division Player of the Week, Defensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week after her first collegiate weekend.McNaught said she thinks battling Johnson will be more mental than physical.“We need to get it out of our head that the goalie is a brick wall,” she said. “Once we realize she’s not that good, she just gets up, we can shoot on her. We shoot on goalies every day. Once we get that out of our head and we just start shooting the way that we know how, we’ll be fine.”Scoring early only to cool off has been a theme for IU this season. The Hoosiers have outscored their opponents 20-16 in the first quarter, but trail in periods two through four by a margin of 71-45.Taylor said she thinks her team has the ability to turn that trend around.“I think with a lot of the really high-ranked teams we’ve played, when we’ve come out scoring so well and beating them, we’ve literally shocked ourselves into being scared and not playing that way for the rest of the game even though we have the ability to,” she said. “We’ve just got to believe we’re good.”
(02/04/13 9:27pm)
The No. 14 IU water polo team was able to bookend the
weekend with wins, but was unable to pick up any victories in between. The team
went 2-3 and finished seventh overall in the Stanford Invitational. The
Hoosiers’ overall record now stands at 3-6.
(02/01/13 3:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After suffering three losses to ranked teams in its season-opening weekend, the No. 14 IU water polo team will travel to California this weekend for five more matches against ranked foes.There is a possibility all five opponents will be ranked higher than IU.“It’s definitely fun to come in as the underdog, and we know we can play against them,” junior attacker Shae Fournier said. “I think if we can put a whole game together, we’ll have a great weekend ... I think it’s more exciting.”Beginning 7 p.m. Friday, the Hoosiers (1-3) will face the No. 12 ranked UC Davis Aggies in Davis, Calif.Then, on Saturday and Sunday, IU will partake in the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.In group play, the Hoosiers will battle the No. 4 California Golden Bears and the No. 11 Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8:15 p.m., respectively, and the No. 3 UCLA Bruins at 12:10 p.m Sunday.IU will then face either the No. 1 Stanford Cardinal, No. 8 San Jose State Spartans, UC Davis or No. 16 Hartwick Hawks, depending how each school does in group play. IU’s final contest could begin as early as 3:45 p.m. or as late as 7:30 p.m. on Sunday.With such strong competition lying ahead, sophomore Rebecca Gerrity says playing well is more important than racking up wins.“It’s really important to be successful and win games, but more importantly, it’s imperative for us to play well as a team and feel good about our play,” she said. “Coming out with wins would be really great, but, honestly, nothing really matters until Easterns. Just get preparation and getting confidence up would be good.”After the Hoosiers finish this weekend, only two of their next 10 scheduled opponents are ranked. IU Assistant Coach Pat Beemer said the schedule setup is favorable for the team.“It’s intentional,” he said. “We like to frontload our schedule with some really tough competition, so that by the time we’re into our conference games, which is still very competitive, we’re at least a little battle-tested.”IU will be facing UCLA for the second time this year. Despite the Hoosiers jumping out to a 3-1 lead after the first quarter in the first match, the Bruins rallied back to snag the victory 8-4.Fournier is looking forward to the opportunity to enact some revenge.“I think we’re definitely looking to come out big against them,” she said. “We know we can do it, so I think it’s just going to be a matter of putting it all together.”Gerrity, who went to high school in Marin, Calif., will only be about 70 miles away from her hometown when the Hoosiers arrive at Stanford. She said she is excited to be able to see family and friends again, and the team will be dining at her house Friday night.After scoring 17 goals last year as a freshman, Gerrity has already scored six goals through IU’s first four games, including a four-score performance in IU’s lone victory versus Colorado State. She plans to continue contributing to her team, starting with defense.“Anything I can do to contribute to the team is really important,” she said. “I just looked to counter against Colorado State, so that’s where a lot of my games came from. Defense usually leads to offense.”The venture to California will be IU’s first of three eventual trips out there. Despite the lengthy distance, Beemer believes his team will still be on top of its game.“We’re pretty much conditioned to do that,” he said. “We travel a lot. We’re on airplanes a lot. It’s almost second nature at this point.”
(01/29/13 4:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Senior attacker Jakie Köhli doesn’t pay attention to the possibility of having the all-time IU water polo scoring record.“It’s not something I really keep track of,” she said.A fellow candidate for the record, junior attacker Shae Fournier said her feelings resembled those of her teammate.“I’m more worried about our team than a personal record,” Fournier said.The exact record, 246 career goals set by Kristin Stanford in 2003, is well within reach for both Köhli and Fournier.Köhli, who missed the entire 2012 season due to shoulder surgery, moved into fourth place all-time during the season opener Jan. 19 against San Jose State, surpassing Nicole Redder’s mark of 182. Köhli now has 187 career scores, just 59 shy of Stanford’s record.Köhli’s sophomore and junior seasons produced 80 and 71 goals, respectively, the first of which was an IU season record for two years. If she can stay healthy and score at the rate she maintained for those two years, the record will be hers by season’s end.Fournier began her IU career with a 61-goal season in 2011, good for eighth-best in the IU record books at the time. Last year, she continued her scoring rampage by shattering Köhli’s record for goals in a season with 95.Fournier now has scored 162 times in her IU career, putting her 84 goals away from Stanford’s mark. Fournier is further away from the record than Köhli, but if Fournier matches her 2012 performance, the record could wind up belonging to her within one year.Still, neither said they are worried about breaking the record and both said they are much more concerned with helping the team succeed.“I don’t really care about records and stuff,” Köhli said. “It’s nice that I’m up there, but I’m just trying to score to help our team win conference.”Because of their attitudes toward the record, IU Coach Barry King said he is “not at all” worried about the possibility of a record distracting his players and disrupting team chemistry. He said he hasn’t had to put any kind of restraints on talk of the record because no one on the team ever brings it up.King also said both Köhli and Fournier have their own unique skill sets that allow them to succeed.“Shae has an overpowering fastball for the most part,” he said. “She shoots the ball real well with balance. She has great legs that allow her to get quality shots off in tight space.”Köhli’s goal-scoring, however, starts from the opposite end of the pool, he said.“Most of Jakie’s opportunities come generated out of her work on the defensive end,” King said. “She gets a lot of clean touches and easy looks on the counterattack. She’s earned it 20 meters away.”Now with both seeing major action in the pool, there will be only so many shots to go around.Fournier said this is a positive.“It’s a good thing, because we both play opposite sides of the pool,” she said. “It makes our team a lot bigger of a threat than last year ... Last year, it was me taking a lot of the shots that now can be distributed within the team, which I’m happy for. It’s definitely good.”
(01/18/13 5:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Last year, the IU water polo team set a school record with 28 wins in a season. The 2013 Hoosier squad will attempt to improve that mark beginning this weekend, as the team will play in the Michigan Kick-Off in Ann Arbor, Mich.IU will face four teams in two days beginning 10:30 a.m. Saturday with a match against San Jose State, followed by Colorado State at 4 p.m. They will face San Diego State at 9:10 a.m. Sunday, and the final game of the tournament will be against University of California, Los Angeles at 2:45 p.m.IU Coach Barry King said he thinks his players are ready to battle someone other than themselves in practice.“I think we’re tired of looking at each other,” he said. “It’s time to go play somebody else and see what the work has gotten us. That first weekend is a tough test, considering the people that we’re playing.”The “tough test” features three teams ranked in the top nine of the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s preseason rankings. San Jose State is ranked No. 9, and San Diego State is No. 7.UCLA, meanwhile, boasts a No. 3 preseason ranking and seven national championships since 2001, five of which were consecutive from 2005-09.Attacker and lone senior Jakie Köhli said she is confident her team can stay with these top-tier clubs.“I think they’re going to be a challenge, but I think we’re good enough to beat them,” she said. “We’re gonna go in with the hopes that we’re gonna win, and I think we can win. Absolutely.”Despite Michigan hosting this weekend’s tournament, IU won’t get to compete against the arch-rival Wolverines. The showdown between the bitter enemies will be March 30, something Köhli is disappointed in.“Whenever we go to Michigan, we always want to play our best to show them that we’re really good,” she said. “It kind of sucks that we aren’t playing them, because I kind of like to play them right at the beginning of the year to see where we’re at.”Köhli, an All-American Honorable Mention in 2010 and 2011, missed the entire 2012 season due to a shoulder surgery during the preceding offseason. She said, though it hasn’t fully healed, it’s getting close at 80 percent.In addition Köhli’s return to the Hoosiers, the team’s top seven goal-scorers from 2012 will be featured on this year’s squad.Three of those seven are juniors, and the other four are sophomores.Attacker Shae Fournier is highlighting the junior class, who shattered the single-season IU record for goals in 2012 with 95. The previous mark was 80, set by Köhli in 2010. Fournier’s performance earned her a selection to the All-American Third Team.The goalkeeper position, however, is one of youth, as it only contains freshmen Jessica Gaudreault and Mary Campbell.Campbell said she is excited to begin her collegiate water polo career.“I’ve been working really hard, along with everyone else on the team,” she said. “I feel pretty confident about it.”Although the team is young, Köhli said she believes it has a lot of potential.“I’m really excited about this team,” she said. “We’re really good. We have a lot of perimeter shooters. We have a hole set coming in — freshman Candyce (Schroeder), who is really good — so we can do a lot of stuff with her. Just honestly, our team is really good.”