Postseason play begins

The IU water polo team begins its postseason play Friday as it competes in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern District Championships. The top five teams in the District advance to the Eastern Championships.\nThe event is being held throughout the weekend at Villanova University. A good showing at the tournament will help the Hoosiers receive a good seed in next week's Eastern Championships.\nIU starts the weekend with a match against Villanova Friday night. The Hoosiers defeated Villanova earlier this year 13-6. Saturday, the Hoosiers take on Washington and Jefferson, whom they beat 19-1 back in early March. Coach Barry King said it's important to get off to a good start.\n"We expect to get to Easterns. Our goal, our season and our practice schedule is structured so that we are playing at our highest level at the end of the season," King said. "We want (the momentum) to carry over into next week. It validates our plans so far this year."\nBased on Friday and Saturday's results, the Hoosiers will be seeded for a tournament format for the rest of the weekend. A match-up with rival Michigan will be likely in the semifinal round.\n"Our main competition is going to be Michigan," senior Molly Fonner said. "We're working on matching our strengths against their weaknesses."\nFonner said the Hoosiers will have to play strong defense to be successful.\n"We have to avoid man-down situations and counter-attacks from them," Fonner said. "They haven't developed as many shots in their halfcourt against us."\nKing sees his team's success lying in its ability to shoot the ball. Over the last several games, the Hoosiers have generated many opportunities but have been unable to finish.\n"We need to score goals. It sounds trite, but we've lost games because our team has shot the ball poorly," King said. "We've created good chances. We just shot poorly."\nJunior Kristin Stanford said the team needs to continue to play good defense. King agreed.\n"We've been more than happy with our level of defense in the last month," King said. "Now we just need to take it up one more gear, and we'll be fine."\nStanford hopes the team will play well this weekend and build some momentum for next week.\n"It's important to get a good seed," she said. "It will be good for our confidence. It will help us going into Easterns"