Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Set For CWPA Western Division Championship
4/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
April 20, 2007
Western Division Championship Notes
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HOOSIERS SET FOR WESTERN DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
The Indiana women's water polo team will head to Michigan for the 2007 Collegiate Water Polo (CWPA) Western Division Championships on April 21-22. Indiana is the top seed in the event for the second-consecutive season after garnering a perfect 7-0 record on its way to its third straight regular season Western Division crown.
The Hoosiers will open the tournament by taking on No. 8 seed Penn State-Behrend at 10 a.m. With a win, IU will advance to the semifinals, in which they will take on the winner of the Grove City and Gannon matchup at 6:45 p.m.
The top two finishers at the Western Division Championship will earn automatic bids to the CWPA Eastern Championship on April 28-29 in Princeton, N.J. The winner of the CWPA Eastern Championship earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. The NCAA Championship consists of eight teams with five earning automatic bids by virtue of winning their conferences.
CWPA WESTERN DIVISION SCHEDULE
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Game 1 - 10:00 - No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 8 Penn State-Behrend
Game 2 - 11:15 - No. 4 Grove City vs. No. 5 Gannon
Game 3 - 12:30 - No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 7 Washington & Jefferson
Game 4 - 1:45 - No. 3 Slippery Rock vs. No. 6 Mercyhurst
Game 5 - 4:00 - Loser of Game 2 vs. Loser of Game 1
Game 6 - 5:15 - Loser of 4 vs. Loser of Game 3
Game 7 - 6:45 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
Game 8 - 8:00 - Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 4
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Seventh-Place Game - 9:45 - Loser of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 5
Fifth-Place Game - 11:00 - Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6
Third-Place Game - 12:30 - Loser of Game 8 vs. Loser of Game 7
Championship Game - 2:00 - Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8
SCOUTING PENN STATE-BEHREND
The Lions (1-17, 0-7 CWPA) are the No. 8 seed in this weekend's competition. Penn State-Behrend, who fell to Slippery Rock, 14-0, to wrap up the season on April 18, went 2-13 overall and 0-7 in the conference last season to finish eighth in the CWPA Western Division. Head coach Joe Tristan, in his fourth season at the helm of the Lion squad, returned five starters from 2006, including team captain Brittany Yost. Yost led the Lions in goals to earn Team MVP last season. Cara Ludwig also returned for her senior season as the career leader in goals scored for the blue and white. Indiana is a perfect 8-0 all-time against PSU-Behrend, winning this season's matchup 17-1.
LAST TIME OUT
Junior Brittany Estrada tied her career high with three goals, including the winning tally with 1:42 remaining in the first overtime session as the Indiana University water polo team defeated rival Michigan, the No. 17 team in the country, 9-7, in overtime on Saturday, April 7, in the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center. The win also capped Senior Day, in which the program recognized the contributions and accomplishments of seniors Kara Woolley, Claire Nicholson, Kristin Zernicke, Melissa Soria, Emily Schmitt and Jaclyn Tameris. The Hoosiers are now 15-12 overall and 7-0 in CWPA play on the season.
After Soria scored with 6:50 remaining in the first period to give IU the quick 1-0 lead, Michigan rattled off four goals to close out the period with the 4-1 advantage. Just over one minute into the second frame, Estrada picked up her first goal of the game, and Woolley cut the deficit to just one after a pass from freshman Kelly Palmberg on the power play with 5:32 left. Estrada tied the score at 4-4 with 50 seconds remaining in the frame.
The two teams traded goals in the third period, as junior Brooke Zimmerman assisted on a goal by sophomore Maggie Hannon with 1:11 remaining to send the game into the final frame tied at five goals apiece. After going down by one, 6-5, with one minute left in the game, Zimmerman tied it up with 42 seconds remaining and sent the game into overtime.
Hannon scored 28 seconds into play in the first overtime period to put IU back on top, and Estrada picked up her third goal of the game on an assist from Tameris with 1:42 left. After Michigan came within one in the second overtime, Palmberg closed out the scoring with 17 seconds to play and cemented the win for Indiana.
Zimmerman had two assists in the game to lead IU, while Zernicke had four steals. Freshman goalkeeper Katie Carson had a career-best 13 saves in the win for the Hoosiers.
HISTORY IN THE WESTERN DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
In the three years since the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) reorganized into three divisions, the Hoosiers own a 6-3 record in the CWPA Western Division Championship. In two of the last three seasons, IU dropped overtime affairs to Michigan in the championship game and have fallen all three years. In 2004, IU defeated Grove City, 12-2, and Gannon, 12-3, to advance to the title game. In Ann Arbor, Mich., the Wolverines defeated the Hoosiers, 5-4, in sudden victory overtime. In 2005, IU knocked off Grove City, 16-1, and Washington & Jefferson, 15-1, on its way to the championship game. Despite a furious six-goal comeback, the Hoosiers fell short to Michigan, 11-10, in overtime. Last season, the Hoosiers defeated Gannon, 15-3, to open the tournament and then knocked off Slippery Rock, 11-2, to set up the matchup with Michigan. Ranked No. 17 in the nation at the time, the Wolverines came away with a hard fought 4-3 victory to top the Hoosiers for the third consecutive year.
BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK WESTERN DIVISION TITLES
By virtue of its 9-7 overtime victory in Bloomington on April 7, IU garnered its third straight CWPA regular season Western Division title. The win completed a perfect 7-0 run for IU through the CWPA Western Division.
REGULAR SEASON WESTERN DIVISION STREAK
Indiana completed its third straight regular season of the CWPA Western Division. The Hoosiers went 7-0 in the division following a 9-7 overtime win over then-No. 17 Michigan on April 7. Indiana has won 26 straight CWPA Conference matches dating back to 2004 season. IU closed the 2004 Western Division regular season with five consecutive victories before winning the regular season crown each of the last two seasons with sterling 7-0 marks.
RACKING UP THE HONORS
After her three goal performance in the overtime win over then-No. 17 Michigan, Indiana junior Brittany Estrada was named the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Western Division Player of Week. She also earned IU Athlete of the Week honors for her performance in the match. Estrada tied her career high with the hat trick, including the winning tally with 1:42 remaining in the first overtime session
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Indiana junior Brooke Zimmerman was named the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Western Division Player of the Week, the conference office announced on March 29. It is the second such honor of her career.
The Calgary, Alberta, native led the Hoosiers to a 6-0 week from March 23-25, as IU knocked off six Western Division opponents to move to 6-0 in the division on the year. In those six games, Zimmerman tallied 13 goals, which raised her single-season scoring total to 60, 13 shy of the all-time Hoosier record of 73, set by Kristin Stanford in 2003. Zimmerman opened the weekend with one goal against Gannon in a 9-7 victory and then rattled off hat tricks in wins over Mercyhurst (14-2), Penn State-Behrend (17-1) and Slippery Rock (16-9) before tallying a goal at Grove City (14-4) and a pair of scores at Washington & Jefferson (19-7). She now has 116 goals for her career, good for seventh on the all-time list at IU.
A CAREER TRIP
Freshman Rachel Edwards had a career roadtrip when the Hoosiers competed in Pennsylvania, tallying 10 goals, dishing out four assists and grabbing 10 steals. She set a career high with three goals at Grove City on March 24 and then matched that total at Slippery Rock the following day. Edwards also dished out a career-best two assists twice on the trip and grabbed four steals twice as well, including in the final game of the trip, at Washington & Jefferson on March 25.
RECORD SETTING
With nine assists on the CWPA roadtrip, senior Kristin Zernicke vaulted to the top of the Indiana record book for helpers in a career. The Calgary, Alberta, native has dished out 129 assists for her career, surpassing the previous record of 125, which was set by former Hoosier Deb Simone. Along that same vein, senior Claire Nicholson became the sixth Hoosier to have five assists in a game when she helped on five goals at Washington & Jefferson to wrap up the trip on March 25.
IN THE RANKINGS
The water polo team opened the 2007 season where it finished the year before, ranked No. 20 in the National Collegiate Women's Top 20 Poll, which was released on Jan. 24. The Hoosiers were 11th in the preseason poll in 2006 and went on to spend the rest of the year in the rankings. The Hoosiers shared their preseason ranking with Brown University. The Hoosiers are also ranked No. 4 in the inaugural CWPA Poll.
After winning its second straight regular-season CWPA Western Division title in 2006, the Indiana water polo team is looking to repeat as divisional champion, return to the CWPA Eastern Championship and compete for a national title in 2007. The Hoosiers, who went 24-11 a year ago, return four of their top five players, including returning 201 of their 311 goals from 2006.
SEASON OPENERS
The season-opening 2007 Michigan Kick-Off marked the sixth straight season in which the Hoosiers have opened play in Ann Arbor, going 1-3 at the event. Last season, Indiana went 1-3 at the Michigan Kick-Off, and won two of three contests at the Michigan Invitational to start the 2005 campaign. The Hoosiers have won just three season-openers at Michigan, the 16-3 win over UC Santa Cruz, a 6-5 overtime triumph over Arizona State on Jan. 24, 2004, and a 10-8 victory against Hartwick on Jan. 25, 2003.
Players Mentioned
