Women's water polo avenges early-season loss to win Southerns

Nothing beats winning a championship.

Except, perhaps, winning that championship by crushing a would-be rival and getting revenge for an earlier loss.

...The Princeton wo-men's water polo team did just that last weekend, and continued its postseason winning streak last weekend by cruising to victory over Michigan, 11-5, in the title game of the Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division Championships. This marks the second year in a row in which the Tigers have taken the championship. En route to the finals, Princeton defeated Indiana in the semifinals, 12-6, and beat Slippery Rock, and Penn State-Behrend in the opening rounds, 10-3, and 18-2, respectively.

Though the Tigers played some of their best water polo of the year, they were often frustrated during the match by frequent calls from the referees. Junior Cassie Nichols, one of the top offensive players on the team, was ejected from the game midway through the first quarter for retaliating against an uncalled foul by one of the Michigan players. At one point even the team's goalie, sophomore Jenny Hildebrand, was ejected from play for 20 seconds — her first ejection since coming to Princeton.

"Cassie's getting kicked out was a challenge we just had to overcome," Hildebrand said. "We really wanted to put them in their place. We're a much better team now than we were the first time we played."

The win also avenges the Tigers' loss to Michigan earlier in the season, at the USCB Tournament in California. There they lost 10-9, in a game most of the players strongly believe they should have won. This time, Princeton left little room for doubt.

"We came out, we dominated them, and didn't give them a prayer to get back into the game," said Hildebrand.

Hildebrand made nine saves against Michigan, while sophomore Adele McCarthy-Beauvais led the Tiger scoring effort with six goals. Sophomore Jenny Edwards also had a trio of goals, and seniors Katherine Kixmiller and Alina Brown both registered a goal.

Princeton, along with Michigan, Indiana, and George Washington, will head to Easterns to make up the Southern half of the eight-team field. The winner of Easterns then proceeds to the NCAA Championships, to compete against the top three West Coast programs. Princeton, having claimed the top seed, thus assumes the role of favorite to reach Nationals.

"By getting the top seed at Easterns, we're really in a position to win," said Hildebrand. "And if we keep playing the way we are now, we should."

"Everyone's playing so well," Nichols said. "Michigan couldn't really respond to our defense. We're finally there, we're finally playing to our potential."

If they get to Nationals, though, the Tigers will have an extremely tough road to capturing the championship. The same group of California teams — including Stanford, University of Southern California, and University of California-Berkeley — has dominated women's water polo for years, and Princeton will have to elevate their game even further to hope to compete.

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But until then, the Tigers are right where they want to be. They're playing the best water polo they have so far this year, and are full of confidence heading into the final stretch.