Indiana University Athletics
HOOSIERS PREPARE FOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
4/22/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
April 22, 1999
HOOSIERS PREPARE FOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPSTHIS WEEK: Indiana (21-14) has the next two weeks off in preparation for the 1999 Women's Collegiate Water Polo Championships, May 7-9 in Davis, California. Michigan and Hawaii have also qualified for the tournament. The other berths will be decided this weekend.
LAST WEEK: The Hoosiers took second at the Midwest Regional Tournament, losing to Michigan 7-6 (OT) in the championship game. Indiana opened the tournament with a 13-2 rout of Wisconsin. Sophomore All-American candidate Deb Simone scored two goals, assisted on three and swiped four balls in the win while Kristin Carpenter fired in three of her own. The Hoosiers then took care of Notre Dame 10-2 and Michigan State 4-2 to reach the semifinals. In the Notre Dame win, sophomore Kara Fellerhoff scored twice, dished out two assists and swiped two balls. Simone stole five in the MSU win, Indiana's fifth this year against the Spartans, while Sheri Fagley scored twice. In the semifinals, Indiana rolled over Miami of Ohio 11-2 to reach the championship game. Carpenter, Kelly McKay and Kate Smith led the Hoosiers with two goals a piece. In the championship game, Indiana fell behind 4-2 entering the fourth but scored three goals to send the game into overtime. The Wolverines struck first in overtime with two goals to take a 7-5 lead. The Hoosiers added one in the second overtime but could not get the match tying goal. Carpenter scored twice while Simone added a goal, two assists and three steals. Simone and Carpenter earned first-team All-Regional honors while Fagley, Molly Fonner and freshman goalie Kirsten Mayberry earned honorable mention honors.
BRING IT ON: Indiana is currently ranked 20th in the nation in the latest United States Water Polo Top 20 poll. All 14 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 (four). IU owns wins over #19 Michigan and two former Top 20 teams, Michigan State (five) 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.
1998 NATIONALS: After winning the Midwest Regional, the 11th seeded Hoosiers went 0-4 in Los Angeles to finish 12th in the nation. Indiana opened with a 7-0 loss to California and 5-0 loss to USC. The California loss was the first time Indiana was shut out during the season. Indiana then fell to arch-rival Michigan 4-2 and finished up the tournament with a tough 5-4 loss to Princeton. Deb Simone led the way against Michigan with two goals while Indiana rallied from a 4-1 deficit to almost send the Princeton game to overtime. Megan Morgan led Indiana with two goals.
STAR QUALITY: Sophomore driver Deb Simone upped her single season steal record to 139 with 15 last weekend. In two seasons, the River Forest, Illinois native has swiped 234 balls and scored 97 goals. Simone, an Honorable Mention All-American selection last year, leads Indiana in assists (41), steals (139) and shots (147) and is second in goals with 47. The River Forest, Illinois native has 14 multiple goal games this season. Indiana is 10-1 when Simone has two or more assists. She has a steal in all but one match and has scored in 28 of 35 matches this season.
TA-CHING!: Sophomore driver Kristin Carpenter fired in ten goals over the weekend to take the team lead with 49. She has been honored with first-team All-Big Ten and All-Midwest Regional selections. She is second in school history with 84 goals and leads the team in shooting percentage at 35.3%. Indiana is 21-2 over Carpenter's two-year career when she scores two or more goals and is 13-2 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 Big Ten Tournament in leading IU to the tournament final for the second straight year. Fonner is third on the team in goals (30), second in assists (29) and third in steals (84). The Beaverton, Oregon native has at least one steal in 33 of 35 matches and has turned in 24 multiple steal matches. Last season with Wisconsin, Fonner pumped in 40 goals for the 4th place Badgers.
DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME!: After a slow start, sophomore two-meter defender Kara Fellerhoff is back to her old ways. Fellerhoff is two steals away from 100 for the year and one away from her total of 1998 (99). She swiped eight balls and dished out two assists in IU's 8-2 win over Michigan two weeks ago. She also scored the winning goal against the Maize and Blue in last year's Midwest Regional Final. Indiana is 18-6 when she has two or more steals. She also scored a career high four goals in the 9-3 Big Ten Tournament win over Michigan State.
RUNNING THE POINT: Sophomore Sheri Fagley has been an important
cog in the Indiana starting unit from the point position. She is fourth
on the team with 26 goals and has swiped 54 balls while dishing out 20 assists.
