Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Water Polo Closes Regular Season Hosting Pair of League Games this Weekend
4/12/2007 8:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
April 12, 2007
Bucknell vs. Princeton Game Notes
LEWISBURG, Pa. - After playing just two games since concluding a West Coast trip March 17, the Bucknell women's water polo team is anxious to get back in the pool. The Bison will wrap up their regular season with a pair of league contests this weekend as they host No. 16 Princeton Friday at 7:30 p.m. and George Washington Saturday at 5 p.m. at Kinney Natatorium.
Friday's matchup with the nationally ranked Tigers will be broadcast live on 90.5 WVBU in Lewisburg and through SportsJuice.com, which can be accessed from the front page of BucknellBison.com. Pregame coverage will begin at 7:15 p.m. with Doug Birdsong calling all the action.
In its last game, on March 31, Bucknell snapped a four-game losing streak with a 10-8 victory over George Washington. The victory helped the Bison improve to 12-13 on the season and was their first league win as they jumped to 1-3 in conference play. With a win in either game this weekend Bucknell will clinch the third seed in next Saturday's Southern Championships.
Bucknell has been strong against unranked foes this year, posting a 12-4 record opposite them. However, the Bison, who will be playing their record 10th ranked opponent of the season when they face Princeton, are 0-9 against ranked teams. Bucknell has defeated Redlands, the No. 1 team in Division III, twice this season.
Friday's game will feature the Bison trying to bring an end to Princeton's 21-game winning streak in the series. The Tigers are 21-0 all-time against Bucknell since the series began in 1999. Despite that lopsided figure, the five games over the last two years have been very close with a total of nine points separating the two teams. In fact, Bucknell brought Princeton (15-7, 4-0 CWPA) to overtime at the Eastern Championship last April, but fell 9-8 in the third place game.
The Bison have dominated George Washington (6-17, 0-4 CWPA) lately, winning 11 consecutive times in the series. The last time they lost to the Colonials was early in the 2004 campaign. Overall, Bucknell owns a 15-13 advantage in the series.
The Bison will look to the quartet of Meagan Gins (Albuquerque, N.M./Valley), Elizabeth Jensen (San Mateo, Calif./St. Ignatius Prep), Valentina Rozas (Pico Rivera, Calif./El Rancho) and Aubrey Rowe (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) to lead them in the offensive end of the pool this weekend. That foursome has combined for 153 of Bucknell's 200 goals this season and has accounted for 76 of the squad's 135 assists.
Gins tops the team in goals for the second consecutive year with 53. She has also dished out 18 assists to give her a team-high 71 points. Jensen, who is fourth on the career points list with 241, is not far behind with 41 goals and a squad-best 21 assists. She is second on the career assists list with 119, making her one of just two players in program history to eclipse the 100-assist plateau.
Rozas, one of two freshmen who have been regular starters this season, is third on the team with 39 goals and 56 points. Sixteen of those goals have come over the last nine games, including a pair of four-goal outings.
Rowe struggled with injuries early in the campaign, but has started each of the last 17 games. She is averaging nearly four steals over the last three contests and leads the team in that category with 40. Rowe has also piled up 20 goals and 20 assists to bring her career point total to 119.
On the defensive side of the pool Mandy Bynum (San Jose, Calif./Leland) has once again been stellar in goal this season. She recently broke the Bucknell career saves record and currently has 914 in her four-year career. The four-year starter has 172 saves this season and is poised to eclipse the 200-save plateau for the fourth consecutive year.
In front of Bynum, Mallory Sullivan (Tulare, Calif./Tulare Western) and Shana Palencia (Glendale, Calif./Hoover) have combined with Rowe to pace the team in steals. Sullivan, one of two Bison along with Gins to start all 25 games, and Palencia have 31 steals apiece to rank second on the team behind Rowe. That trio has combined for 102 of the squad's 255 steals.
Friday's game against Princeton will mark the 500th in the career of Bucknell head coach John Zeigler. He is 136-114 in 250 career games with the Bison women's program, while he owns a 114-135 mark with the men's program.
Prior to Saturday's contest, Bucknell's six seniors will be honored as part of Senior Day festivities. The Bison senior class is: Sadie Abuhoff (Cranbury, N.J./The Lawrenceville School), Bynum, Jensen, Susan Kingerski (Sugarland, Texas/Saint Agnes Academy), Sullivan and Jessica Trimis (La Crescenta, Calif./Crescenta Valley).
Next Saturday, April 21, the four CWPA Southern Division teams - Bucknell, George Washington, Maryland and Princeton - will convene on College Park, Md., for the Southern Championships. The top two teams will earn automatic berths in the Eastern Championship.
Weekend Schedule (all games at Kinney Natatorium)
Friday, April 13
No. 16 Princeton at Bucknell, 7:30 p.m.
* broadcast live on WVBU 90.5 and SportsJuice.com
Saturday, April 14
George Washington vs. No. 16 Princeton, 12 p.m.
George Washington at Bucknell, 5 p.m.
