Indiana University Athletics
HOOSIERS LOOK FOR SECOND STRAIGHT MIDWEST REGIONAL TITLE
4/14/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
THIS WEEK: Winners of nine of their last ten, the 20th ranked Hoosiers head to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Big Ten Water Polo Tournament. Indiana, the second seed, takes on seventh-seeded Wisconsin at 10:00 p.m. (all times EDT) Friday night to open the tournament. On Saturday, the Hoosiers take on sixth-seeded Notre Dame at 1:00 p.m. and third-seeded Michigan State at 5:00 p.m. If Indiana wins its bracket, it will play at 9:00 p.m. against the second place team from Bracket A. If Indiana takes second, it will play at 8:00 p.m against the winner of Bracket A. Indiana must win its semifinal match to advance to the National Championships at UC Davis on May 7-9.
PROBABLE STARTERS FOR THE HOOSIERS (17-13 overall):
# Pos Player Yr. Hometown/School Notes and Stats
1 G Kirsten Mayberry Fr. Irvine, Calif. (Irvine) Stopped 7 of 7 shots vs Northwestern
2 Dr Sheri Fagley So. Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. (Westminster Academy) Season high six steals vs Michigan State
4 Dr Deb Simone So. River Forest, Ill. (Oak Park River Forest) Big Ten Tournament MVP
5 2m Kara Fellerhoff So. Columbus, Ind. (Columbus North) Tied school record with 9 steals vs Illinois
7 Dr Kristin Carpenter So. Ann Arbor, Mich. (Huron) Two goals and four steals against Illinois
9 2mD Molly Fonner So. Beaverton, Ore. (Westview/Wisconsin) Two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection
12 Dr. Mary Lesniak Fr.. Oak Park, Ill. (Oak Park River Forest) Goal, two assists, two steals vs Purdue
HEAD COACH--Barry King (Fresno State 1988) 2nd season, 43-22-1 in two seasons as the varsity head coach.
ASSISTANTS--Jack Wagner (Lane Tech '81); Kate Toole (Indiana '98)
LAST WEEK: The Hoosiers took second at the Big Ten Tournament, losing to Michigan 12-4 in the championship game. Indiana shot a season-high 66.7% in beating Purdue 14-1. Sophomore driver Deb Simone swiped five balls to break Kara Fellerhoff's single season steal mark of 99. On Saturday, the Hoosiers survived a scare against Illinois but prevailed 9-3 and knocked off Michigan State 9-3 to reach the semis. IU trailed the Illini 3-2 going into the fourth but roared back with seven fourth period goals. Molly Fonner tallied three goals, three assists and eight steals. IU also trailed at the end of the first against Michigan State but used three second period goals to take control. Kara Fellerhoff scored a career-high four goals while freshman goalie Kirsten Mayberry added two assists. In the semifinals, the Hoosiers dispatched Northwestern 7-1. In the final against Michigan, the goalies only stopped three of 15 shots as Indiana took second in the Big Ten for the second straight year.
THE OPPONENTS: The Hoosiers knocked off Wisconsin 9-3 two weeks ago at the Hoosier Invitational. The Hoosiers have not played Notre Dame this year but took a 20-3 decision last year at the Miami Invitational. Indiana owns four victories over Michigan State and has never lost to the Spartans in eight matches.
BRING IT ON: Indiana is currently ranked tied for 20th in the nation in the latest United States Water Polo Top 20 poll. All 13 losses have come to teams ranked in the Top 20. Indiana has lost to #3 California (twice), #5 UC Santa Barbara, #6 UC Davis, #8 San Diego State, #10 San Jose State, #11 Long Beach State, #12 UC San Diego, #14 Pacific, #15 Loyola Marymount and #19 Michigan (three). IU owns wins over #19 Michigan and two former Top 20 teams, Michigan State (four) and Harvard (twice). The Hoosiers also defeated Redlands, the top-ranked team in Division III. Indiana began the year ranked 11th and has been ranked in the poll every week.
STEALING SIMONE: Sophomore driver Deb Simone smashed the single season steal record of 99 with 25 steals over the weekend. In two seasons, the River Forest, Illinois native has swiped 220 balls and scored 92 goals. Simone, an Honorable Mention All-American selection last year, leads Indiana in goals (42), assists (31), steals (124) and shots (135). The River Forest, Illinois native has 13 multiple goal games this season. Indiana is 7-0 when Simone has two or more assists. She has a steal in all but one match and has scored in 24 of 30 matches this season.
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO CARP: Sophomore driver Kristin Carpenter earned first-team All-Big Ten honors last weekend . She is second in school history with 74 goals and leads the team in shooting percentage at 32.5%. Indiana is 18-1 over Carpenter's two-year career when she scores two or more goals and is 10-1 this year.
SMELLING LIKE A ROSE: Sophomore two-meter defender Molly Fonner earned All-Big Ten honors for the second year in a row. She scored ten goals, dished out seven assists and swiped 13 balls at the tournament in leading IU to the tournament final for the second straight year. Fonner is third on the team in goals (25), second in assists (20) and tied for second in steals (75). She has at least one steal in 28 of 20 matches and has turned in 21 multiple steal matches. Last season with Wisconsin, Fonner pumped in 40 goals for the 4th place Badgers.
WOLVERINE KILLER: After two sub-par performances against Michigan this season, sophomore Kara Fellerhoff is back to her old ways. Fellerhoff swiped eight balls and dished out two assists in IU's 8-2 win two weeks ago. She also scored the winning goal against the Maize and Blue in last year's Midwest Regional Final. Indiana is 13-5 when she has two or more steals.
