Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Travels to Princeton to Defend CWPA Title
4/23/2015 11:35:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
Third-seeded Hoosiers seek their second consecutive CWPA Championship this weekend
CWPA Championship | Princeton University
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Preview: CWPA ChampionshipCWPA Tournament Seeding | ||
| Seed | Team | CWPA Record |
1 | #12 Princeton Tigers | 8-1 |
| 2 | #18 Michigan Wolverines | 8-1 |
| 3 | #11 Indiana Hoosiers | 8-1 |
4 | (RV) Harvard Crimson | 6-3 |
| 5 | #20 Hartwick Falcons | 5-4 |
| 6 | Brown Bears | 4-5 |
| 7 | Bucknell Bison | 3-6 |
| 8 | Mercyhurst Lakers | 2-7 |
| 9 | George Washington Colonials | 1-8 |
| 10 | Connecticut College Camels | 14-0 (D-III) |
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -The No. 11 Hoosiers return to Princeton University for the third time of the 2015 season this weekend. This time around, they'll hope to defend their 2014 CWPA Title by winning the tournament for the second consecutive season.
Host team Princeton won the three-way tiebreaker at the top of the standings to take the tournament's top seed. Michigan, having won their conference game against Indiana on April 4, earned the second seed. Indiana is in the third seed, but jumped to the highest national ranking in the conference after closing the season on an eight-game win streak.
Indiana closed their season last weekend in Bloomington with four wins, including three against CWPA opposition. The Hoosiers' three wins on Sunday, April 19 included head coach Barry King's 400th career win, an 18-3 victory over Gannon University.
The Hoosiers come into the tournament as one of the favorites to win the championship, and are the defending champions after winning the title in 2014. According to Indiana senior Shelby Taylor, being the reigning champions doesn't add additional pressure.
"CWPA is a whole different league of water polo. Our freshman year, we unexpectedly lost in the first round," Taylor said, commenting on the level of competition in the CWPA Tournament. "Anything could happen. No matter if we had won last year or come in last, everyone would play just as hard this year."
The Hoosiers begin their tournament campaign on Friday, April 24 at 1:30 pm against sixth-seed Brown University. The Bears and Hoosiers met two weekends ago in Princeton, the result a 16-4 win for Indiana. The Hoosiers are 18-4 all time against Brown.
If Indiana wins against Brown, they will advance to the CWPA Semifinals. There, they would take on either second-seed Michigan or the winner of the opening round match between seventh-seed Bucknell and 10th-seed Connecticut College.
"When we come out against Brown, that will determine the entire weekend," said Indiana senior Colleen McNaught. "Once we win that game, and get our momentum going, we're going to be feeling pretty good.
"If we feel like champions, we'll be champions," McNaught said.
INDIANA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE - ALL TIMES EASTERN | |||
TIME | CWPA Quarterfinals - Friday, April 24 | ||
| 1:30 pm | INDIANA | vs | Brown |
TIME | Saturday, April 25 | ||
| TBA | INDIANA | vs | TBA |
TIME | Sunday, April 26 | ||
| TBA | INDIANA | vs | TBA |
Follow along with the action on Twitter @IUWaterPolo. Results and recap will be posted on IUHooisers.com.
Media Contact: Nick Reith, nbreith@indiana.edu
