No. 9 Hoosiers heads to the Golden State for tournament

After a week of rest, IU will look to keep the momentum of its recent wins going.
The IU water polo team will compete in the Triton Invitational in La Jolla, Calif.

The Hoosiers will face off against Santa Clara at 11:10 a.m. and then play either Loyola Marymount or CSU East Bay later in the day. Sunday will bring two more matches, though both have yet to be determined.

With a fast 5-2 start, Indiana has relied on clutch play late in matches, mainly involving sophomore Shae Fournier. The attacker has 18 goals and six assists in just seven matches. Fournier complements a dominant defense so far for IU. Starting in the net, senior Cassie Wyckoff has continued her elite status thus far.

“We need (Fournier) to be our first option and not our last, but the bottom line is she has the physical capabilities of finishing. She sets a lot of it up on the defensive end also,” IU Coach Barry King said. “More importantly, I think she’s playing knowing that her teammates have supreme confidence in her to get it done when we need it done. That faith is powerful in terms of a player’s desire to do things.”

Fournier said a good connection in and out of the water among the team has played a role in the success of the Hoosiers.

“I think that everyone has been on the same level mentally, so that’s been good for us. Everyone gets along well inside and outside of the pool,” she said, “It’s been good that everyone’s gone in knowing what their job is.”

Fournier said the team remains focused on improving tournament to tournament, and they see this season as something special: an opportunity to cause some real damage late in the season.

“I think we need to learn to be that intense earlier in games because we’ve been good late in games, but I think we need to keep that throughout the whole game,” Fournier said. “We’re kind of on a roller coaster through the game. We’ll be up a few goals, and then we automatically go down again, so I think the main focus is maintaining our edge throughout.”