Water polo squad headed to Michigan

There definitely is not any rest in sight for the weary water polo team. After splitting four matches at the Princeton Invitational last weekend, the Hoosiers look to break the .500 mark this weekend as they travel to Ann Arbor to compete in the Michigan Invitational.\nThe task will not be easy.\nThe first game will be at 12:15 p.m. Saturday against Stanford, who is hot off a 4-0 sweep at their own invitational last weekend. Stanford is in its fourth year as a varsity sport and is coming off a 28-5 season that included a third-place finish at the National Championships.\nEven though this is the first-ever meeting between the two schools, coach Barry King is well aware of the Cardinal's ability.\n"It is going to be challenging. Stanford is the No. 1 team in the country, and they have two returning Olympians," King said. "That will be a strong contest."\nPerhaps the key to defeating Stanford will be the play of IU's Stanford -- sophomore Kristin Stanford. The Cincinnati, Ohio native led the Hoosiers in goals and steals last weekend with six and seven, respectively. Finding the back of the net is nothing new to Stanford, since she was last year's leading scorer with 51 goals.\nNext up for the Hoosiers will be Slippery Rock and Michigan State. Slippery Rock was the College Water Polo Association, Allegheny Division Champion last year, sporting a 21-8 record. This is only the second meeting between the two schools, with IU getting the best of Slippery Rock in their first meeting. Michigan State, which is still only a club team, will be trying to break a 14-game losing skid to the Hoosiers. \nRounding out the trip will be IU's archrival Michigan. The Wolverines also competed in the Princeton Invitational last weekend, fairing better than the Hoosiers by posting a 4-1 record. Over the last two seasons, IU and Michigan have split their six head-to-head matches down the middle, each school taking three wins. \nEven though Stanford might be the most difficult matchup, Michigan is probably the most crucial for King.\n"Michigan is really important for us," King said. "They are one of four schools, including us, who will be going for the NCAA bid in the Eastern bracket. They are the only other school in the Big Ten with a varsity team."\nKing sees this weekend as he did last weekend, a part of a season-long learning process.\n"The first weekend was a good early test for us. In both the wins and the losses we were able to take something out of each contest," he said. "We will continue to take those lessons we have learned to build up to our goal to winning Easterns and advancing to the NCAAs"