Heads kept above water after losses

The women's water polo team returned home from the Stanford Invitational this weekend with mixed emotions. Although the Hoosiers lost three games while winning just one they felt as if it was a positive experience. And it will help them in their future games. \n"I am really pleased with the effort our girls put into today and this weekend," coach Barry King said in a statement. "We looked at this weekend as a chance to gain experience and I think we did that. We fought back hard against Santa Cruz after three disappointing losses. That was good to see."\nIn their first game of the tournament the Hoosiers lost to No. 5 California, 10-3. The Hoosiers fell behind early to Cal, as the Golden Bears jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter. But in the second half the Golden Bear's offense was just too much for IU, as the team quickly scored three goals in the third quarter. \nIn the second game of the tournament the Hoosiers lost a closely contested battle to No. 9 San Jose State whom the Hoosiers had beaten just two weeks previously at The Michigan Invitational. In the rematch against the Spartans, the team got down early and were forced to come from behind for much of the game. After senior Kristin Stanford scored in the first quarter the Spartans scored four unanswered goals. \nBut IU stormed back as All-Americans Stanford and Krista Peterson scored two goals before halftime to make the score 6-3. The Hoosiers outscored the Spartans in the second half, 6-5 but could not overcome the halftime deficit losing, 11-9. Stanford contributed four goals, while Peterson had three goals in the losing effort. \nIn the third game of the tournament the Hoosiers faced No. 1 ranked and defending national champion Stanford. The team played tough but ended up losing 15-3 to the talented Cardinals. Although the first three games of the tournament resulted in losses, the Hoosier players continued to remain positive and optimistic for both the last game of the tournament and this weekend's tournament. \n"It is pointless to walk away from this weekend with a negative attitude. We are lucky that we can get the experience of these games and we can know what to expect," junior Melissa Pietras said. "It was absolutely a good experience, it will help everybody and especially the young players". \nThis positive outlook was evident in the Hoosiers final game of the weekend as they did not let the first three games shatter their confidence against University of California-Santa Cruz. The Hoosiers jumped out to a commanding 6-0 lead in the beginning of the game before Santa Cruz scored its first goal right before halftime. The second half was no different for the Hoosiers as they scored the last six goals of the game in a 14-2 victory. \n"We had a good weekend, and we took a lot away from it," Stanford said. "We played against good defenders, people who made you play better and that will help us a lot in the future." \nNext weekend the Hoosiers travel to Princeton, N.J., to compete in the Princeton Invitational, where their first three games will be against Bucknell, Brown and Harvard.