Indiana University Athletics
Hoosier Road Trip with Colleen McNaught
2/14/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
Feb. 14, 2012
LA JOLLA, Calif. -
Freshman Colleen McNaught of the Indiana women's water polo team shares her experience during the Hoosiers' trip to La Jolla, Calif. for the Triton Invitational on February 10-12. The No. 9 Hoosiers improved to 8-3 overall after a 3-1 record on the trip, including wins over two ranked opponents.
It always begins and ends with the same three words, "Saddle up, Hoosiers!" We gather up our bags and head out to the bus that takes us to the Indianapolis airport where this time we leave behind freezing wind chills for sunny, breezy skies in beautiful San Diego, Calif.
Friday, February 10
It's early Friday morning and although we don't have any games until the following afternoon we already have a full day ahead of us. First on the list was a team breakfast followed by a hike through the Torrey Pines trails. This hike was meant to stretch out our legs and get the blood flowing, however this turned out impossible for collegiate athletes. We ended up running the entire five mile stretch parallel to the beach and sun. After we watched as our fellow teammates from Canada showed their first signs of a California sunburn, we loaded up the vans and grabbed a quick lunch followed by a loosen up swim at the UCSD pool. To finish our Friday we grabbed dinner and headed back to the hotel for lights out.
Saturday, February 11
Waking up on game day you always get out of bed with knots in your stomach. As a freshman everything is still new and fresh. Each time you suit up and line up for a game it's always the same indescribable feeling that us youngsters share with each other. After beating Santa Clara, the next focus became beating LMU. We had watched them play against East Bay earlier in the day and as a team prepared our best for the game against the Lions that evening. After losing to LMU by two, we grabbed dinner at the Escobedo's house and enjoyed some downtime with family and friends. The following morning was going to be another battle as we were facing off with UCSB once again.
Sunday, February 12
We finished out that morning against the Gauchos with a winning score of 7-5 and looked forward to playing a conference contender later in the evening. With the tournament coming to a close, the one thing that is on everyone's mind is when's the next time you get to put your head down and sleep, when can we eat again, and who's the next team we are going to stop at nothing to beat. So come game time against the Terps we finished out the tournament with a final win against Maryland 11-10 and enjoyed a final dinner at Kym's house and had a chance to say goodbye to our families.
The buzzer went off the next morning and everyone rolled out of bed and loaded up the vans to the sound of three words from Coach King, "Saddle up, Hoosiers!" An end to a successful tournament for the Indiana Hoosiers.
