Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Start 2008 Campaign at Michigan Kick-Off
1/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
Jan. 25, 2008
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana water polo team will get the 2008 season underway this weekend at the Michigan Kick-off. The Hoosiers will take on San Jose State at 1 p.m. on Saturday followed by Colorado State at 5:15 p.m. Sunday will see the Hoosiers battle Arizona State at 10:20 a.m. before going up against preseason No. 1 UCLA at 3 p.m.
Indiana has three starters returning from last year's team that went 19-14 overall and 7-0 in the CWPA Western Division. The top returner from a year ago is senior attacker Brooke Zimmerman, who scored an IU single-season record 76 goals last year and handed out 52 assists, also a school record.
Other seniors that will be looked to for leadership this weekend will be Jackie Pyrz in goal and Brittany Estrada at the utility position. Pryz shared time in goal last year with current sophomore Katie Carson, making 127 saves to go along with a 8.98 goals against average. Estrada will look to improve on her 23 goals scored in 2007 while also allowing the seven newcomers on the team to gain valuable experience.
SCOUTING SAN JOSE STATE
The Spartans are led by Third Team All-American from 2007, Beth Harberts and junior Juliet Moss. Harberts is a strong scoring threat from the two-meter position while Moss scored 55 goals last year for head coach Lou Tully, the third-most in school history.
Tully has a reliable goalkeeper in senior Kendra Adama returning for her final season after making 263 saves as a junior to led the Spartans to a No. 6 national ranking in the final poll of the season.
SCOUTING COLORADO STATE
The Rams are led by senior co-captains, Emily McCullough and Annie Quinn. They will become the first players in Colorado State water polo history to complete four full years in the program after being members of the inaugural varsity team in 2005. McCullough directs the team in the water for head coach John Mattos while Quinn was second on the team with 42 goals last season.
The Rams may have a slight advantage this weekend as they have already played one game this year, a 19-8 loss to UC-San Diego. The Rams got hat tricks from both sophomore Sarah Ostling and freshman Ali Pavlik in the losing effort.
SCOUTING ARIZONA STATE
Arizona State has nine players returning from a team that finished 2007 ranked 12th. Junior Addison McGrath is the top offensive threat for the Sun Devils, ranking in the top three in three scoring categories in her career. She enters the weekend with 93 career goals, just seven away from becoming the third player in school history to reach 100 goals scored in a career.
Indiana has had success against Arizona State in the past, going 3-1 all-time in four meetings, but the lone loss came a year ago at the Stanford Invitational.
SCOUTING UCLA
UCLA is the three-time defending national champion and was a unanimous choice for the top spot in the preseason NCAA Water Polo poll. The Bruins have 11 players returning including five of their tip six scorers, led by Jillian Kraus and Katie Rulon who both scored over 50 goals.
In goal will be Brittany Fullen, who posted a goals against average of 2.90 in 30 quarters of action last year for head coach Adam Krikorian.
Players Mentioned
