Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Climbs into National Rankings after 3-1 Weekend
9/11/2008 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 11, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. – After going 3-1 last weekend at the Navy Open, the Bucknell men's water polo team is back where it spent most of the 2007 campaign – in the national rankings. The Bison, who were in the “also receiving votes” category in the preseason poll, moved up to No. 18 in the first ranking of the 2008 regular season.
Bucknell, which suffered its only loss last weekend to two-time defending national champion No. 1 California, has won three consecutive games by a combined score of 46-19. The Bison defeated Fordham, Queens and Iona, scoring more points in any three-game stretch since early in the 2006 campaign.
Bucknell has opened the season with at least a 3-1 record each of the last three years. It became accustomed to showing up in the national rankings last year, climbing as high as No. 11 in the nation after a sparkling 9-1 start. Overall, the Bison were ranked no fewer than 14 weeks last fall and concluded the season ranked No. 19. However, Bucknell lost seven talented seniors from the 2007 squad to graduation.
Richie Hyden (Melbourne, Australia/Greenwich (Conn.)) led the way for Bucknell on offense this past weekend with a pair of five-goal games. He totaled 15 goals and seven assists to give him 22 points, twice as many as Randy Ang (Hillsborough, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep), who ranks second on the team with 11 points. Hyden is now just seven points shy of 100 in his career.
The Bison are scheduled to face a tough schedule this coming weekend at the Princeton Invitational. They will take on George Washington, which is in the “also receiving votes” category in this week's poll after being ranked No. 18 in the preseason, and Iona on Saturday. On Sunday, Bucknell will battle No. 3 Stanford and No. 15 Santa Clara with the start time of the games less than five hours apart.
