Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Water Polo Opens 2007 Campaign at UC San Diego Triton Invitational this Weekend
2/7/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
Feb. 7, 2007
UC San Diego Triton Invitational Schedule/Results
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Can a team that has won a program-record 23 games each of the last two years improve? Eighth-year head coach John Zeigler thinks the 2007 edition of the Bison women's water polo team can be even better than its 23-9 mark in 2006.
"This team hasn't won championships yet, but has the ability," commented Zeigler, who is a 1991 graduate of Bucknell who was a member of the men's water polo team. "We only put ourselves in a position to challenge for one title once last year (at the ECAC Championship), but we expect to do it two or three times this year."
The Bison get their first chance in the pool when they open their 2007 season at the UC San Diego Triton Invitational this weekend. The 16-team field features 12 teams ranked in the top-20 national poll. Bucknell, which received one vote in the latest poll and is tied for 21st with Brown, takes on No. 6 San Diego State in its first game Saturday at 12 p.m. (Eastern). The Bison will then play either No. 12 Santa Clara or No. 16 UC Santa Barbara later that afternoon. Two more games against formidable competition on Sunday will wrap up the opening weekend of play.
With a smaller roster size, an experienced group of nine juniors and seniors and the loss of just one key contributor to graduation, Bucknell has high expectations this year as it returns its top four scorers, who accounted for 194 of the squad's 281 goals, and a three-year starter in goal.
The Bison offense was led by the trio of Meagan Gins, Elizabeth Jensen and Aubrey Rowe last spring. They totaled 274 points and own three of the top-10 positions on Bucknell's single-season scoring list.
Entering her junior year, Gins last season became the first Bucknell player to reach triple figures in points in a single season as she smashed Adrienne Schober's program record by 10 with 103. Gins, who became the first Bison to earn honorable mention All-America honors, also broke the single-season goals record with 70. In just two years she is already sixth in career goals and ninth in career points.
Rowe made an immediate impact early in her freshman campaign, scoring 42 goals in the season's first 14 games. She finished with 58 goals and 21 assists and her 79 points rank her 10th on Bucknell's single-season scoring list.
"I think we relied on Meagan and Aubrey too much at times," reflected Zeigler. "They answered every request we had, but the beauty of our system this year is we have more balanced scoring. They could still put up incredible numbers, but they won't have to. In fact, I think their numbers will be down a little bit if we are doing what we need to do."
While she is not quite the goal scorer Gins and Rowe are, Jensen did tally a career-high 46 goals to go along with 46 assists, which was the second-best single-season mark in program history. The left-handed senior, who is a team captain along with classmates Mandy Bynum and Mallory Sullivan, showed significant improvement from her sophomore to junior campaign and Zeigler expects that upward progression to continue.
Sullivan, a two-year team captain, headlines a list of veterans who registered between 15 and 20 goals last year. Sullivan, a strong defensive player, led that group with 20 goals and finished tied for fourth on the team with 38 points. Her career-high 40 steals led the team.
"We put Mallory on the best center forward player and she was dominant from her two-meter position," lauded Zeigler. "She plays a strong, physical game and doesn't make many mistakes."
Junior Jennifer Swoyer and senior Jessica Trimis will also provide offensive support after combining for 32 goals and 49 points last season.
Zeigler expects senior Susan Kingerski and junior Laura Stalker to blossom this year. Both saw plenty of playing time a year ago, but combined for just eight starting assignments.
"Susan did some fantastic things at the end of last season and is playing with more confidence this year," described Zeigler, who also thinks Stalker will see more playing time after being one of three Bison to appear in all 32 games last spring.
For the fourth consecutive season, Bynum will be the starting goalkeeper. The owner of three of Bucknell's top-six single-season save totals, she is sure to break Lindsay Chesterfield's career mark of 892 sometime this year and could push the standard past 1,000.
"Our expectations for Mandy are very high," said Zeigler. "She is the cornerstone of the defense and we would love to see her fourth year be her best."
Bynum and her teammates will once again face an extremely difficult schedule in 2006. The Bison faced nine ranked foes last year, and with a pair of trips to California on this season's itinerary to go along with an always-difficult league slate the schedule could be even stronger.
Highlighting Bucknell's exciting home schedule at the impressive Kinney Natatorium is the Bucknell Invitational the final weekend in February. The Bison will also host a pair of league contests in mid-April.
Following this weekend's highly competitive event in San Diego, Bucknell will travel to the Maryland\ Invitational Feb. 17-18. There, the Bison will face three more ranked foes in No. 13 Michigan, No. 14 Hartwick and No. 20 Indiana.
