Water polo team to play 6 road games in 3 days

At this point in the season for IU coach Barry King and the IU water polo team, playing six games in three days is like just another day at the office.\n“We can handle it this weekend,” King said. “Playing three on Saturday is unusual, but this group can handle it.”\nThe Hoosiers (8-12) will travel to Pennsylvania this weekend to compete against smaller schools all from the Quaker State, including Gannon, Mercyhurst and Slippery Rock. \nKing said that the games this weekend will be played in pools that are smaller than what the Hoosiers have been used to all year, so his team will have to adjust.\n“It takes some getting use to the tighter quarters,” King said. “The games could be lower scoring because there is less opportunity to score.”\nKing said that a possible advantage in favor of IU is the fact that the Hoosiers are from a power conference, which could intimidate the smaller schools.\n“We have that as an advantage,” King said. “We believe, and more importantly they may believe, that we’re better.” \nThe Hoosiers had an extremely busy spring break, playing in eight games in as many days and traveling from Indiana to California, back to Indiana and then to Michigan. The constant travel during spring break has left the team mentally and physically drained, which left the practices this week to be as much about recovery as preparation.\n“We’re just trying to get well more then anything else,” King said. “The spring break road trip is taxing for us. That much travel, that many games.”\nThe team has also been working with the goalies more, in addition to their usual offensive and defensive schemes, hoping to continue the improvement of the team as the season starts to reach its pinnacle. \n“I think the groups made progress and we’ve continued to progress,” King said. “Sometimes spring break can become the peak of the season and then you gear down but this group hasn’t done that.”