Indiana women’s water polo enters the season as the No. 14 team in the Collegiate Water Polo Association week one poll.
The Hoosiers ended the previous season with a fifth-place finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships, granting them a 15-15 season record. Indiana will travel to Los Angeles, California to compete against the University of California, Los Angeles and participate in the UCSB Winter Invite in Santa Barbara, California.
Indiana star players; graduate student goalie Mary Askew and senior utility Zoe Crouch are back for another season. Askew was an honorable mention Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches all-America last season with 245 total saves in her senior season.
With Crouch’s return, Indiana has a reliable asset on offense. In her junior campaign, she led the program with 83 points and ranked first in assists in the MPSF conference.
The Hoosiers will endure tough competition this weekend as they face three ranked teams by CWPA: No. 3 UCLA, No. 19 University of California, Santa Barbara and No. 11 University of California, San Diego.
Indiana's first obstacle of the season is against UCLA in Los Angeles and will be a re-match after the Hoosiers lost 6-16 to the Bruins in the MPSF Championships this past season.
After the afternoon meet on Friday, Indiana will travel to Santa Barbara, California to participate in the UCSB Winter Invite. Last season, the Hoosiers had a clean sweep of the invitational, beating four teams in three days.
UCSD finished this past season with a winning record of 20-11. Their final meet resulted in a loss as they matched up against the then No. 1 team Hawai'i University in the Big West Conference. UCSD will be the first team Indiana faces in the UCSB Winter Invite, and the match will begin at 11:15 a.m.
The first match of the weekend will commence at 3 p.m. Friday in Los Angeles against UCLA.
