Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Water Polo Returns Home to Wrap Up Regular Season this Weekend
4/2/2009 8:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
April 2, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell women's water polo team return home this weekend to wrap up its regular season matches at Kinney Natatorium. The Bison will play four games in a three-day stretch, beginning with a rematch against Princeton Friday, April 3, at 7:30 p.m. Bucknell will have a busy Saturday as they are slated to play both George Washington at 1 p.m., followed by No. 20 Maryland at 4:45 p.m. The Bison will then wrap up their regular season on Sunday with a match against non-conference foe No. 19 Indiana, which is set to kick off at 11 a.m. Both Friday night's match against Princeton and Sunday's match against Indiana will have live video broadcast on Bison Vision.
Weekend Schedule
Friday, April 3
Princeton at Bucknell, 7:30 p.m. (Bison Vision
)
Saturday, April 4
George Washington at Bucknell, 1 p.m.
Maryland at Bucknell, 4:45 p.m.
George Washington vs. Indiana, 7:45 p.m.
Sunday, April 5
Indiana at Bucknell, 11 a.m. (Bison Vision)
(Note: there will be a number of non-traditional season men's water polo games at Kinney Natatorium this weekend. Schedule is at bottom of release.)
Bucknell Women's Water Polo Notebook (15-11, 2-1 CWPA)
• The Bison return home to Kinney Natatorium for the first time in over a month when they take on conference rival Princeton on Friday. Bucknell is coming off a solid March, where it went 9-3.
• Bucknell has won 38 consecutive games when netting at least 10 goals. The Bison last lost a game when tallying double-figure goals March 9, 2007 at Princeton. The Tigers won that game 15-12.
• Bucknell's five-game winning streak is its longest since it posted eight straight victories last March. That streak came to an end with a 7-6 loss at Princeton.
• Second-year Bison head coach John Abdou now has a career record of 41-21 at the helm of the women's program. He led the Bucknell men's squad to a 17-16 record during the fall. Sunday's contest against Indiana will be his 100th career contest as a head coach.
• Bucknell has registered 212 assists this season, a figure that ranks third in program history. Last year's squad piled up 259 assists, while the 2001 team had 222. Kandis Canonica leads this year's team with 49 assists, the third-most in program history. Aubrey Rowe is second with 42. It is just the second time two Bison have had at least 40 assists in the same season.
• In a 14-7 win over Occidental last month, junior All-American Valentina Rozas tied the Bucknell record with seven goals in a game. Her nine points were one shy of the program standard, last achieved by Rowe in 2006.
• Freshman Amanda Skonezney has won 58 of 101 sprints this year. She is second on Bucknell's single-season sprints won list. Only two other Bison have taken a sprint this year. Last year six different players attempted a sprint and Canonica won a team-high 17.
• Both Rozas and Canonica are likely to break Bucknell's scoring records this year. Rozas, who is the third Bison to register two 60-goal seasons, is just nine goals shy of Meagan Gins' single-season record for goals (70), while Canonica is on pace to break her own point (112) and assist (61) records. Canonica has a team-high 96 points and 49 assists and has registered at least one point in 17 consecutive games.
• Rowe still has an outside chance at breaking the program record for career points (351) that was established by Meagan Gins last year. Rowe currently has 318 career points to rank second on the list. The Bison have no fewer than nine games left in their season if they qualify for the Eastern Championship for the eighth consecutive year, meaning Rowe would have to average 3.7 points per game to equal Gins. So far this year Rowe is averaging 3.4 points per contest.
• With a game-high four goals in last week's match against Princeton, junior Shana Palencia has already tied her career-high points total with 66. She has already surpassed her career-high assists total, and is only 6 goals shy of matching her highest goal tally.
• Earlier this year Rowe broke the Bucknell career steals record. She now has 231 in her four-year career, 32 more than second-place Meg Blitzer. Rowe is the only Bison who has played since 2005 in the top seven on that list. Rowe is also on pace to rewrite other career records. She currently stands tied for second in career assists (125), is second in career points (318) and is third in career goals with 193, only 5 short of second-place.
• Freshman Brittany Connell earned her first career start last week against Princeton. She equaled her season high with seven saves, while also tallying three steals and an assist.
Bison on Career Record Lists
Kandis Canonica: Points (10th, 208), Assists (5th, 110)
Alison Carter: Saves (3rd, 396)
Rachel McGillis: Saves (5th, 207)
Shana Palencia: Assists (9th, 70), Sprints Won (7th, 38), Shots (10th, 275)
Aubrey Rowe: Points (2nd, 318), Goals (3rd, 193), Assists (3rd, 125), Steals (1st, 231), Ejections Drawn (3rd, 133), Shots (2nd, 448), Games Played (9th, 119), Games Started (4th, 113, Sprints Won (6th, 50)
Valentina Rozas: Points (7th, 236), Goals (4th, 178), Ejections Drawn (2nd, 204), Shots (3rd, 416)
Amanda Skonezney: Sprints Won (3rd, 58)
Bucknell's Weekly Awards in 2009
CWPA Southern Division Player of the Week (6)
- Valentina Rozas (Jan. 26, March 16)
- Aubrey Rowe (Feb. 9, Feb. 23 - co-player)
- Kandis Canonica (March 9)
- Shana Palencia (March 30)
CWPA Southern Division Rookie of the Week (4)
- Amanda Skonezney (Jan. 26, March 9, March 16)
- Hallie Kennan (Feb. 9)
Bucknell vs. Weekend Opponents
• • Bucknell defeated Princeton this past Saturday by a 9-7 score. It was the second win all-time for the Bison in 27 games against the Tigers. The last 11 games in the series have been decided by a total of 18 goals.
• In their most recent outing against George Washington earlier this season, the Bison posted a decisive 11-6 victory. Bucknell has won the last 17 games straight in the series, dating back to 2004. Overall, the Bison are 21-12 opposite the Colonials.
• In its conference opener, Bucknell dropped a 13-9 decision to Maryland in College Park. That narrowed the Bison's all-time series advantage to 16-7, with Bucknell's most recent win coming last April. In the most recent national poll, the Terps were ranked 20th.
• Sunday will mark just the sixth time that the Bison meet Indiana, with the Hoosiers holding a slight 3-2 advantage. In this week's CWPA national poll, Indiana was ranked No. 19. Bucknell's most recent win against the Hoosiers came last February.
2009 Records of Weekend Opponents
• Princeton: 12-8
• George Washington: 5-18
• Maryland: 11-11
• Indiana: 13-14
CWPA Southern Division Standings
1. Maryland: 4-0
2. Bucknell: 2-1
3. Princeton: 2-2
4. George Washington: 0-5
Up Next
The Bison will take next weekend off and will return to action April 18 at the Southern Championships. The tournament is scheduled to take place at Maryland's Campus Recreation Center in College Park, Md. Bucknell has placed in the top three in each of the last five championships.
Remainder of Weekend Schedule at Kinney Natatorium (men's games)
Saturday, April 4
Navy at Bucknell, 11:45 a.m.
Navy vs. NOVA, 2:15 p.m.
Toronto vs. Bucknell, 3:30 p.m.
NOVA vs. Toronto, 6 p.m.
Sunday, April 5
Navy vs. Toronto, 9:30 a.m.
Navy vs. Toronto, 12:30 p.m.
Navy vs. Bucknell vs. NOVA, 2 p.m.
NOVA at Bucknell, 3:30 p.m.
