IU heads to Princeton for weekend tournament

After finishing second in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Western Division tournament last weekend, the No. 16 IU water polo team will attempt to earn a bid to the NCAA Championship Tournament at the CWPA Eastern Championship at Princeton University this weekend.\nThe Hoosiers are seeded fourth entering the Eastern Championship and will play No. 5-seed Bucknell University in the opening round of the tournament. IU defeated the Bison in February 12-9, which started a 19-3 run to end the Hoosiers' regular season. \nIU is 3-0 against Bucknell all-time.\n"When you're playing for the championship, all bets are off and (Bucknell) is going to be a totally different team than what we played in our second tournament of the season," said sophomore Brittany Estrada.\nIn order to advance to the NCAA Championship Tournament, IU must win the Eastern Championship this weekend or earn one of the three at-large bids. Eight teams will compete for a shot at the national title, which is held at the University of California-Davis.\n"There's no doubt in my mind that we have all the potential to get to UC-Davis," Estrada said. "I think that at this point, we don't have anything to lose but it would be really incredible to win. Everyone is expecting to go out there and give their best effort and hopefully it will be enough to get us to the championship." \nThe Hoosiers enter a tournament that includes No. 12 Hartwick University, No. 17 Michigan and No. 20 Princeton University. The Hoosiers are 2-2 against Michigan this year, losing last week in the CWPA Western Division Championship game. IU also lost to Princeton 9-8 in February.\n"If anything, I think the loss to Michigan provides motivation because we had beaten them the last two times that we've played them," Estrada said. "It's really hard to keep up a winning streak, so I think that losing to them kind of gives us an advantage because it makes us more motivated to play them this weekend."\nIn 2003, the Hoosiers won their first Eastern Championship and ultimately advanced to the Final Four, finishing fourth overall. Since the 2002 season, the Hoosiers have finished third place or higher in the Eastern Championship while playing in two title matches.\nShould the Hoosiers defeat Bucknell, they will play the winner of the Hartwick-Harvard University match. If they win in the second round, the Hoosiers would advance to the championship round, giving them a shot at going to UC-Davis for the NCAA Championship Tournament.