Season Preview: Indiana Women's Water Polo

1/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo

Jan. 12, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana women's water polo team enters the 2011 season with high aspirations and a No. 13 national ranking as head coach Barry King welcomes back a surplus of talented returnees, along with the arrival of three impact newcomers. The Hoosiers return six starters from a squad that finished the 2010 campaign ranked 12th in the country.

"We think this should be a tremendously competitive group," said King. "We've had a really great fall and preseason practice so we have high expectations of winning contests and competing at the highest level."

Junior Jakie Köhli, an ACWPC Honorable Mention All-American last season, will be a key factor after setting the single-season school scoring record in 2010 with 80 goals. The Burnaby, B.C. native made the transition from defensive stopper to all-around performer as a sophomore, in large part due to a terrific supporting cast that looks even better heading into 2011.

"Jakie would be the first one to tell you that she had that great sophomore season because of a lot of things that her teammates did to set her up in those positions," said King. "I think the best thing for her this year is that she's not necessarily required to score 80 goals for us. She's going to have that many opportunities because the people surrounding her are that much better and have improved that much."

A large part of the improvement should come from the highly accomplished senior class, headlined by Kara Butler, Kelsey Campbell, Nicole Redder, and Lauren Wyckoff. The four veterans, each All-Western Division performers, have combined for 394 goals and 290 starts during their careers in Bloomington. Along with fellow seniors Katie Black, Kate Dunn, and Jenna Roe, the class has provided the Hoosiers with a consistent performance in and out of the pool.

"They're tremendous students and that has filtered into all phases of their athletics, both performance and leadership," King stated. "They've challenged themselves to be the best physically and I think every senior has gotten better. From the minute we lost the conference championship game last year, you could see the commitment in their eyes that they were going to be better individually, be better as a class, be better as a team, and thus far that has come to fruition."

The Hoosiers made defense a staple last season, consistently causing problems for the opposition with their length and tenacity. Junior goalkeeper Cassie Wyckoff was the backbone of that defense, as the Los Altos, Calif. native became the fifth Hoosier to record 200-plus saves in a season (209).

"Cassie's one of the best four goalkeepers in the country so she's clearly a lynchpin for us," said King. "She'll take quite a few more minutes than she did last season. The challenge for her will be elongating her focus and trying to avoid times of complacency in the cage."

The strong Indiana defense will also receive a boost from the highly regarded incoming freshmen class of Shae Fournier, Meghan Lappan, and Amanda Redfern.

"I think we had a pretty good defensive squad last year and our freshman additions make us that much better," said King. "They're very gifted defensive athletes and I expect us to be pretty formidable defensively."

Junior Hanna Eimstad and sophomore Kym King provided energy and solid play last season. Eimstad has started 15 games during her first two seasons in Bloomington, while King saw action in 31 contests in her freshman campaign. Junior Sara Joseph also saw time last season, competing in 20 games for the Hoosiers.

Junior attackers Megan Jacobs and Dana Mayeron, along with sophomore Megan McAuley return and will look to provide depth to the Indiana roster. Liza Dernehl is also back for her sophomore season at the goalkeeper position.

A GLANCE AT THE CWPA
Indiana will once again be in the CWPA Western Division this season, however the conference has shifted from three divisions to two for the 2011 campaign. The Hoosiers will be joined in the Western Division by Bucknell, Gannon, Hartwick, Mercyhurst, and Michigan. The Southern Division is made up of Brown, George Washington, Harvard, Princeton, Salem International, and Maryland.

The Cream and Crimson, ranked No. 2 in the preseason CWPA Poll, are expected to contend, along with rival Michigan among others for conference supremacy in 2011.

"This is one of the more interesting years because of a certain amount of personnel flux," said King. "We're really the only group that returns their key players from last season. Obviously, Michigan will continue to be a quality team."

The conference has some uncertainties heading into the season, as teams reload and alter their rosters.

"Princeton has a tremendous freshmen class and it will be interesting to see how they integrate into the college game," King said. "The usual suspects, Hartwick, Brown, and Maryland, it will be interesting to see how they handle some transitions. There are a few more question marks in the conference than in years past."

The Hoosiers will host the most important conference event of the season, the 2011 CWPA Eastern Championship on April 29-May 1 at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center. Indiana is looking to make another run at the title after coming up just short against Michigan in last season's finals matchup.

"From the minute that we lost that game, our whole focus has been returning to that game and winning it," said King. "Whenever you play in front of your people, have your friends and family in the stands, and the added element of having the student body being here, it will be an advantage for us."

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
The Hoosiers will make their second appearance playing in front of a national television audience as they host Michigan on March 26 on the Big Ten Network. Last season, the same two teams battled it out in the first ever water polo game shown on the BTN.

"It's a tremendous amount of fun," said King. "There's a certain amount of buzz that surrounds it. It's valuable in recruiting too when we can say that we play on TV. There aren't many other teams that get to do that."

LOOKING AHEAD
The season will get underway on Jan. 22-23 at the Michigan Kick-Off in Ann Arbor. The Hoosiers will open the season again No. 6 Loyola Marymount at 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, followed by games against No. 15 Cal State Northridge at 3:40 p.m. and Colorado State at 7:15 p.m. On Sunday, Indiana will take on last season's national runner-up and No. 1 ranked Stanford at 9:35 a.m.

HISTORY AND RECORDS
The Indiana Water Polo record book has been updated through the 2010 season and is available on the toolbar above. Check back later this week for the Interactive Guide.

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK
The IU Water Polo Twitter page is going strong with over 280 followers. Be sure to follow along for up-to-date news, links, videos, and scoring updates throughout the season at Twitter.com/IUWaterPolo. Also, search for `IU Women's Water Polo' on Facebook and click the `Like' button to receive updates on your news feed.