No. 20 Hoosiers 'Kick-Off' season 3-1 at weekend tournament in Michigan

After months of grueling practice, the IU water polo season is finally under way. Playing four games in two days at the Michigan Kick-Off Tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich., the No. 20 Hoosiers finished the weekend 3-1. The Hoosiers split their games Saturday, routing UC-Santa Barbara 16-3 before falling to No. 13 Michigan 12-7. The Hoosiers capped off the weekend by going a perfect 2-0 Sunday, beating Colorado State 9-4 followed by a 7-5 victory against Marist. \n"I really liked the effort," IU coach Barry King said. "Overall I was very pleased. A lot of people got chances to play, which will be valuable later on." \nThe Hoosiers were paced throughout the tournament by junior attacker Brooke Zimmerman and senior center Melissa Soria. Zimmerman tallied 10 goals in the four games, including five against Michigan. Soria finished the tournament with nine goals, four of which came in the win against Colorado State. Adding to Zimmerman's and Soria's scoring, 12 different Hoosiers notched goals during the weekend. \n"Our team has worked hard together to be where we are as a team, and we finished (the tournament) pretty strong," Soria said. \nPlaying in their first tournament of the year, the Hoosiers were happy to finally face competition other than what they see in practice.\n"It's different when you play games; it's more intense," Zimmerman said. \nOn Saturday, the Hoosiers will travel to California for the Stanford Invitational, where they'll compete against three top-five teams. \n"Next weekend the competition will go up," King said. "It will be four very stern tests"