Season Preview<br> - Indiana University Athletics

Season Preview

1/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo

Bloomington, Ind. -- The 2004 Hoosiers have some big shoes to fill. Not only did the Hoosiers equal a school record for victories with 26 a year ago, but Indiana won its first conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Final Four. The Hoosiers also finished the year ranked ninth in the polls and knocked off the first two top 10 ranked teams in school history. IU beat seventh-ranked San Jose State, 10-8, at the Michigan Invitational and then beat 10th-ranked UC-Santa Barbara, 9-7, for the Princeton Invitational Championship.

Helping the Hoosiers fill those shoes is a solid core of players that includes All-CWPA Southern Division selections, juniors Krista Peterson and Jessica Goldner. Both Hoosiers were also named All-Eastern Championships with Peterson being named MVP of the Championships. For her performance at the Eastern Championships, Peterson was recognized in the June 9, 2003 issue of Sports Illustrated's "Faces In the Crowd."

The Hoosiers will be led by a pair of seniors that return for their final season. Seniors Kristy Streefkerk and Melissa Pietras have amassed a career record of 65-37-1 through their first three seasons in Bloomington.

Indiana not only returns a solid group of players, but add a good recruiting class as well. The Hoosier newcomers include three high school All-Americans, two Canadian Junior National players and a junior college transfer that was team MVP.

Two-meter offense

The Hoosiers have a huge hole to fill in its two-meter offense. Gone from last season's squad is Indiana's all-time leading goal scorer and three-time All-American Kristin Stanford. She scored a single season record 73 goals last season. Despite the loss, IU does return All-American and 2002 Junior Pan American Games Gold Medalist Krista Peterson. In 2003, the Portland, Ore., native scored the third most single season goals in Hoosier history with 61. She also registered 30 assists for the second straight season.

Indiana will also look to sophomore Bridget McKeon to pick up some of the slack in the two-meter offense. McKeon finished her freshman campaign with 19 goals and 17 assists. In the championship match of the Southern Division Championships last season, McKeon scored two goals in a loss to Michigan. Junior transfer Kandace Waldthlater from Sierra Junior College in California will also help the two-meter offense by committee. At Sierra, Waldthaler was team MVP in 2002 as well as first-team all-conference and All-Norcal in both 2001 and 2002.

"Obviously when you graduate 73 goals out of one position, it is going to be difficult to fill that void," Indiana head coach Barry King said. "At two-meters, we will do that more by committee with Krista Peterson, Bridget McKeon and Kandace Waldthaler. We will rotate those players in there and have less of a primary two-meter set. All of those girls will be more effective than just trying to go in and hammer one person in. At the end of last year, Krista Peterson really came on as an offensive force. We are looking for her to continue that and really start the season at that level. We hope that she will really drive us offensively as we get used to each other. Hopefully by the middle of the year, Kandace and Bridget can take some real effective touches in there for us."

Two-meter Defense

"We look at two-meter defense as the most important thing we do," King said. "If we can control an opponent's two-meter offense, then it allows us to do some things defensively, and take advantage of the counter attack from defense to offense."

The Hoosiers will look to senior Kristy Streefkerk and sophomore Emily Schmitt to anchor the two-meter defense. Streefkerk returns after helping anchor the Hoosiers' two-meter defense last season. For the season, she finished with seven goals, eight assists and 17 steals. During her first collegiate season, Schmitt started 29 of the Hoosiers' 37 matches. She finished the season ranked in the top five on the team in goals, assists and steals. Schmitt scored a freshman-high 22 goals and 24 assists to go along with 35 steals.

"Emily Schmitt and Kristy Streefkerk will lead the way in the two-meter defense for us," King said. "We also have a few others that will be effective and be able match up. We have a lot of faith in Jesse in goal. Emily and Kristy will be relied on very heavily at two-meter defense."

Freshman Claire Nicholson joins the Hoosier defense in 2003. Nicholson was a two-time team MVP in high school and helped lead her Grossmont squad to a league championship in 2002.

"We are looking for Claire to work hard and improve her play to get ready for the speed of the collegiate level," King said. "I think as the season goes along, she will get better."

Driver

The Hoosiers will look to a trio of underclassmen in freshman Kristin Zernicke, sophomore Courtney Livak and sophomore Clare Meadows that give Indiana depth at the driver position. Zernicke comes to Indiana with impressive credentials after playing on the gold medal-winning World Champio Canadian Junior National team. Zernicke played for the Canadian Junior National team from 1999-2003 and was also a four-time MVP of her club team, the Calgary Renegades.

Livak and Meadows both enjoyed success during their freshmen campaigns. Despite missing 10 games due to injury, Livak finished the year ranked third on the team in steals with 39. The San Jose, Calif., native also had 10 goals and eight assists. Meadows finished her first season with 13 goals, nine assists and 29 steals.

"Kristin Zernicke, Courtney Livak and Clare Meadows will be handling a lot of action in driving the perimeter to draw some ejections and take some effective touches on the outside," King said. "Kristin Zernicke has a real ability to control a game with her decision-making and where the ball goes. We look forward for her taking a lot of that responsibility."

The Hoosiers also return senior Melissa Pietras, one of only two seniors on the Hoosier roster this season. Last year, Pietras ranked third on the team in goals with 31 and second in assists with 26.

"We are looking for Pete to provide some strong in pool leadership in her senior year," King said. "She will be the leader of our counter attack. We will look for her to continue to play hard as she has throughout her time here."

Another Canadian Junior National Player, Janis Pardy, joins the Hoosiers as well at the driver position. Pardy played with Zernicke on the 2003 Canadian Junior National Team that won the World Championships. She was also on the junior team that claimed the silver medal at the Junior Pan American Games.

"Janis played with Kristin (Zernicke) on the Canadian Junior National Team," King said. "She brings a wealth of international experience to our team and should really give us a boost."

The Hoosiers also added two more freshmen at the driver position in Jaclyn Tameris and Kourtney Schepman. Tameris comes to Bloomington from Sycamore High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, the same school that produced Hoosier great Kristin Stanford. Tameris was a two-time All-America choice in both swimming and water polo in high school.

"Jaclyn is a real physically gifted kid that will take some time to learn the game at the collegiate level," King said. "Her goal is to gain as much experience as she can and gain some knowledge of water polo. Hopefully, she can use her speed and power to really help her along the way."

Schepman was a first-team All-Bay League selection a year ago as well as a Wendy's High School Heisman Nominee.

"We will look for Kourtney to develop in her first season with us," King said. "She needs to learn the speed of the college game and refine her skills. Hopefully towards the end of the year, she can contribute."

Utility

"Clare Meadows, Bridget McKeon and Kara Woolley will be solid utility players," King said. "They will go in and take some touches at two-meter. They will also face the goal and do some things driver wise. They will be important for us."

Sophomore Bridget McKeon started 28 of 37 matches for the Hoosiers during her freshman season. For the year, McKeon finished with 19 goals, 17 assists and 22 steals. The Coronado, Calif., product had an exceptional CWPA Southern Divisional Championships. She scored six goals in four games and also registered three assists and three steals. Meadows enjoyed success, especially on the defensive end. She tied a school record with nine steals against Washington and Jefferson last season.

"Bridget was really starting to show some good things last year," King said. "The confidence that Clare got on the defensive end at the end of last year will carry over to the offensive side of the ball. I think we will see some real solid improvements from her on the offensive end."

The Hoosiers will look for help at the utility position from Woolley, a freshman from Fresno, Calif. Woolley was a first-team All-America selection during her senior season at Clovis West High School.

"Kara Woolley can be an exciting player for us," King said. "She has that desire to score, not necessarily doing it the absolutely correct way, but she has that scorers mentality that can really be fruitful for us."

Indiana added another All-American in its recruiting class with freshman Amanda Paul. Paul was a third-team selection last season.

"Amanda will provide us with some depth," King said. "Hopefully during her freshman year, she can gain some valuable experience that will help to refine her skills."

Goalkeeper

Junior Jessica Goldner returns as the center piece to the Hoosier defense in goal. In 2003, Goldner registered 289 saves on the season, including 10 or more saves in 10 games. The Los Altos Hills, Calif., product faced a school record 614 shots during the 2003 season and picked up a save percentage of 47.1 percent.

At the Eastern Championships, Goldner earned second-team All-Championships for her performance. In the semifinal match against No. 14 Princeton, Goldner matched a school record as she registered 19 saves, while facing 24 shots and allowing only one goal.

"At the end of the year, I thought Jessie was as good as there was in the country," King said. "She had another really solid summer with her club team in California and led them to a senior national championship. We are looking for that same level of play from her right from the beginning."

Freshman Kimberly Martin gives the Hoosiers a second goalkeeper, a luxury Indiana did not have last season. Martin comes to the Hoosier program from Mundelein, Ill.

"Kimberly provides us with a second goalkeeper, which we did not have last season," King said. "She will have the opportunity to learn from Jessie and will work real hard to provide us assistance in practice as a backup goalie."