Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Falls to Michigan
4/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
Sure, there is the sweat and tears that come with every heated rivalry, and yes, sometimes there is blood.
Sunday's Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division Championship was no different, and unfortunately for the Hoosiers, so was the outcome. Indiana fell to the Wolverines, 6-2, to take second place in the division. IU will most likely earn a No. 2 seed to the CWPA Eastern Championships in two weeks.
Since the inception of Michigan's varsity status three years ago, Indiana is 0-12-1 against the Wolverines.
The Hoosiers (23-9) began Sunday's contest completely focused on their opponent, but unfortunately could not end that way. It wasn't because the Hoosiers only missed their first 15 shots, or because they only scored on two of 24 shots. It wasn't even the fact that IU trailed the Wolverines 4-0 lead at halftime. Indiana's "complete focus" was lost, or at least diminished a little, at the 4:35 mark of the second quarter.
After a Michigan turnover, Jamie Marley began her counterattack down the pool whn she was violently kicked in the mouth. Unbeknownst to some - but not many - Marley rolled to her back in agonizing pain.
Play continued on. And on. And on.
Finally, a livid Indiana head coach Barry King had no other option but to call a timeout himself, because an injury timeout was not being called. While Jessica Goldner and Ginger Wang swam over to Marley just to keep her afloat, the rest of the Kinney Natatorium waited for an explanation as to why play continued on while Marley lay slumped in the water.
The only explanation that was given was a yellow "caution" card to King and a point back in the direction of the Indiana bench by the official for him to return to his seat.
The disappointment of the Hoosier players and coaching staff certainly stems from the loss to Michigan, but perhaps even more with what this injury could mean for Marley.
Ironically, Marley, a senior from Ann Arbor, Mich., sustained the majority of the kick to the jaw bone - a bone that was fractured in 2001 and reaggravated last year. She was taken to Evangelical Community Hospital, just five minutes from Bucknell University, where x-rays were inconclusive. Marley traveled back to Bloomington with the team Sunday night, and was taken to Bloomington Hospital for more treatment.
A co-captain along with close friend Kristin Stanford, Marley has had quite the year in her final campaign. She leads the team in assists and played a dominant role for IU over its spring break last month.
Play would go on, and with Marley out and Stanford triple-teamed at times, it was the Indiana freshmen that got the Hoosiers back in the game. At the 3:37 mark of the third quarter, freshman Bridget McKeon scored to put the Hoosiers on the board. The Coronado, Calif., native answered back just 52 seconds later with the team's second goal of the game, which came on an assist from fellow classmate Clare Meadows.
Michigan's Jo Antonsen recorded a hat trick with 1:54 left in the third, while Julie Nisbet scored the sixth and final Wolverine goal with 1:40 remaining.
"We really just didn't convert on our 6-on-5 advantages," said King, commenting on the Hoosiers' 0-for-8 power play mark. "We had missed opportunities today, and obviously losing Jamie was tough for us as well."
Indiana's 23 wins this season mark the second-highest total in the Hoosiers' six-year history. IU finished its first year of varsity competition in 1998, with a 26-9-1 record. The Hoosiers will have to go undefeated at the Eastern Championships in two weeks to match the 26 wins set six years ago..
The tournament, which is similar to basketball's "Elite Eight," will give the champion the coveted berth to the 2003 NCAA Championships in La Jolla, California.
It is most likely that the Hoosiers will have to face Michigan once again en route to the conference title.
