Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Open 2019 Season at UCSB Winter Invite
1/18/2019 3:00:00 PM | Women's Water Polo
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana water polo team officially kicks off their 2019 season this Saturday at the UCSB Winter Invite. This year marks the third season the Hoosiers begin their quest for a conference championship title in Santa Barbara, Calif. under head coach Ryan Castle.
The weekend long tournament consists of four-games, including match ups against three top-25 teams. The Hoosiers open the invite with a face off against No. 15 UC San Diego on Saturday before battling newest conference opponent, No. 1 USC on Sunday. If Indiana can leave this opening weekend on a high note, an exciting season is certain to follow.
COACH CASTLE'S THOUGHTS
"We play UC San Diego first off. Over the last couple of years, we've had a great rivalry with close games. They're a well-coached team with a lot of passion, so it's always a fun game. We're excited to test ourselves against a very experienced and talented team."
"UC Santa Barbara is another very well coached team who we've played both years since I've been here. We're expecting to play a very physical and fast counter attack game against them."
"Sunday morning, we have Fresno St. It's the second year of their program. They didn't graduate anybody so were expecting them to be better and faster in the pool, and we're excited to match up against them."
"Our last game is against USC. This is a great way to measure how far we have progressed since the Collegiate Cup."
2019 UCSB Winter Invite
LAST YEAR'S TRIUMPHS
Indiana finished the 2018 season with a 25-9 record, earning the No. 15 spot on the top-25. The team tallied a total 331 goals and 261 assists, landing in the top eight on Indiana's all-time records for goals and assists in a single season. Two Hoosiers were awarded ACWPC All-American nominations and three received All-CWPA Championship Team honors, including top returning junior Joelle Nacouzi.
TOP RETURNERS
Leading the way for the Hoosiers this year is a class of six highly experienced returning juniors. Among them include the talented Megan Abarta, Joelle Nacouzi, and Emily Powell. Abarta concluded last season with an impressive 31 goals to go with 18 assists and 24 steals.
Nacouzi held her end of the pool up with 30 goals while holding a season high of five field blocks. She earned three CWPA honors including ALL-CWPA Championship second team, CWPA Women's Varsity Scholar-Athlete Team (Excellent) and ACWPC All-Academic honoree.
Powell has shown her leadership on team by stepping up as this year's team captain. Powell earned a spot on the CWPA Scholar-Athlete team (Outstanding) and ended the season with 15 goals and 22 assists, taking pride in both academic and athletic success.
NEW FACES
Indiana has added seven well trained freshman to this year's roster – Mary Askew, Sarah Greeven, Izzy Mandema, Hannah Falls-Hand, Lauren Etnyre, Tina Doherty and Molly McGuire. With such a young team on their hands, the Hoosiers have been training harder than ever to prove their talent and make their mark on the 2019 season.
Castle's comments on the freshman class - "It's a brand-new team for us with a lot of youth. We're stepping into a new conference with a lot of new challenges and were taking it one game at a time, focusing on good fundamentals and competing all over the pool."
WHAT'S IN STORE FOR 2019?
The Hoosiers face a challenging season ahead as they prepare to compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for the first time. The MPSF is home to the most premier water polo teams in the nation. Last season, all six of Indiana's new league members finished in the top-25 while occupying the top five rankings.
For Coach Castle, switching to the MPSF was a no brainer. The move increases Indiana's appearance in the west coast allowing the Hoosiers to compete alongside the fiercest teams in water polo.
Castle commented, "It's the toughest conference in the world. The NCAA championship has been won by the same three teams over the last 18 years. We're excited to start some new rivalries and earn the respect of our new peers. We have a lot of respect for the teams and athletes of the new league and we're working hard to catch them."
The 2019 schedule features two tournament weekends on the road as well as the Hoosiers' debut home event, the Indiana Classic (Mar.1-3). The schedule was designed to give the Hoosiers significantly more recovery time between tournaments allowing athletes to focus on what's important, academics.
Castle added, "Whilst the schedule is extremely tough, it is more student-athlete friendly with a lot more time off between travel and class."
After this weekend, the Hoosiers will be back in California for the Stanford Invite (Mar. 2-3) before returning home to host the Indiana Classic.
For all the latest on Indiana University water polo, be sure to follow the team at @IndianaWPolo on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The weekend long tournament consists of four-games, including match ups against three top-25 teams. The Hoosiers open the invite with a face off against No. 15 UC San Diego on Saturday before battling newest conference opponent, No. 1 USC on Sunday. If Indiana can leave this opening weekend on a high note, an exciting season is certain to follow.
COACH CASTLE'S THOUGHTS
"We play UC San Diego first off. Over the last couple of years, we've had a great rivalry with close games. They're a well-coached team with a lot of passion, so it's always a fun game. We're excited to test ourselves against a very experienced and talented team."
"UC Santa Barbara is another very well coached team who we've played both years since I've been here. We're expecting to play a very physical and fast counter attack game against them."
"Sunday morning, we have Fresno St. It's the second year of their program. They didn't graduate anybody so were expecting them to be better and faster in the pool, and we're excited to match up against them."
"Our last game is against USC. This is a great way to measure how far we have progressed since the Collegiate Cup."
2019 UCSB Winter Invite
Jan. 19-20 • Santa Barbara, California
Saturday, Jan. 19
12:00 am PT / 3:00 pm ET | No. 13 Indiana vs. No. 15 UC San Diego
4:00 pm PT / 7:00 pm ET | No. 13 Indiana vs. No. 17 UC Santa Barbara
Sunday, Jan. 20
8:00 am ET / 11:00 pm ET | No. 13 Indiana vs. Fresno State
12:30 pm ET / 3:30 pm ET | No. 13 Indiana vs. No. 1 USC
LAST YEAR'S TRIUMPHS
Indiana finished the 2018 season with a 25-9 record, earning the No. 15 spot on the top-25. The team tallied a total 331 goals and 261 assists, landing in the top eight on Indiana's all-time records for goals and assists in a single season. Two Hoosiers were awarded ACWPC All-American nominations and three received All-CWPA Championship Team honors, including top returning junior Joelle Nacouzi.
TOP RETURNERS
Leading the way for the Hoosiers this year is a class of six highly experienced returning juniors. Among them include the talented Megan Abarta, Joelle Nacouzi, and Emily Powell. Abarta concluded last season with an impressive 31 goals to go with 18 assists and 24 steals.
Nacouzi held her end of the pool up with 30 goals while holding a season high of five field blocks. She earned three CWPA honors including ALL-CWPA Championship second team, CWPA Women's Varsity Scholar-Athlete Team (Excellent) and ACWPC All-Academic honoree.
Powell has shown her leadership on team by stepping up as this year's team captain. Powell earned a spot on the CWPA Scholar-Athlete team (Outstanding) and ended the season with 15 goals and 22 assists, taking pride in both academic and athletic success.
NEW FACES
Indiana has added seven well trained freshman to this year's roster – Mary Askew, Sarah Greeven, Izzy Mandema, Hannah Falls-Hand, Lauren Etnyre, Tina Doherty and Molly McGuire. With such a young team on their hands, the Hoosiers have been training harder than ever to prove their talent and make their mark on the 2019 season.
Castle's comments on the freshman class - "It's a brand-new team for us with a lot of youth. We're stepping into a new conference with a lot of new challenges and were taking it one game at a time, focusing on good fundamentals and competing all over the pool."
WHAT'S IN STORE FOR 2019?
The Hoosiers face a challenging season ahead as they prepare to compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for the first time. The MPSF is home to the most premier water polo teams in the nation. Last season, all six of Indiana's new league members finished in the top-25 while occupying the top five rankings.
For Coach Castle, switching to the MPSF was a no brainer. The move increases Indiana's appearance in the west coast allowing the Hoosiers to compete alongside the fiercest teams in water polo.
Castle commented, "It's the toughest conference in the world. The NCAA championship has been won by the same three teams over the last 18 years. We're excited to start some new rivalries and earn the respect of our new peers. We have a lot of respect for the teams and athletes of the new league and we're working hard to catch them."
The 2019 schedule features two tournament weekends on the road as well as the Hoosiers' debut home event, the Indiana Classic (Mar.1-3). The schedule was designed to give the Hoosiers significantly more recovery time between tournaments allowing athletes to focus on what's important, academics.
Castle added, "Whilst the schedule is extremely tough, it is more student-athlete friendly with a lot more time off between travel and class."
After this weekend, the Hoosiers will be back in California for the Stanford Invite (Mar. 2-3) before returning home to host the Indiana Classic.
For all the latest on Indiana University water polo, be sure to follow the team at @IndianaWPolo on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
Attacker
/ Women's Water Polo
Goalkeeper
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Attacker
/ Women's Water Polo
Left
/ Women's Water Polo
Utility
/ Women's Water Polo
Goalkeeper
/ Women's Water Polo
Utility
/ Women's Water Polo
Attacker
/ Women's Water Polo
Attacker
/ Women's Water Polo
Driver
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