Bucknell University Athletics
Men's Water Polo Set to Defend Southern Championships Title this Weekend
11/7/2013 7:22:00 PM | Men's Water Polo
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell men's water polo team is the No. 2 seed in the 12-team Southern Championships field this weekend at Navy. The Bison, who will play either seventh-seeded Washington & Jefferson or 10th-seeded Monmouth College in their first game Saturday at 10:20 a.m., will be trying to defend their title as the claimed the Southern Championships trophy last November at Kinney Natatorium.
Navy's Lejeune Hall is the site of this year's Southern Championships. Bucknell, which finished second in the CWPA Southern Division East Region, is seeded behind league rival Princeton. The Bison are ranked 19th nationally this week, while the Tigers are No. 13 in the rankings.
Bucknell captured its first-ever Southern Championships crown last year in Kinney Natatorium. The Bison defeated George Washington, Washington & Jefferson, nationally ranked Navy and then won the title with a 9-4 victory over Cinderella opponent Mercyhurst, which entered the weekend as the No. 6 seed.
Bucknell enters the Southern Championships with a strong senior class that includes 100-goal scorers Jack Else (175), Mike Kimble (110), Alex Nowlin (103) and Julian Colina (102). This is the first time since at least 1984 there have been four 100-goal scorers on the same Bison team and the Class of 2014's 533 combined goals is the fifth-most by a class in program history, behind only the classes of 1980 (976 goals), 1988 (605), 2007 (569) and 2000 (558).
Else leads Bucknell in goals with 50 this season, while sophomore Stefan Aleksic paces the squad in assists (28) and points (56).
Nowlin enters the weekend with 103 goals and 141 assists in his career. He is trying to become the seventh Bison to reach 100 goals and 150 assists, and the first since Richie Hyden in 2010.
Bucknell, which is 7-1 in its last eight Southern Championships games, enters the tournament coming off a 1-4 trip to California two weekends ago. The Bison played four ranked opponents in a span of less than 48 hours.
The top six teams at the Southern Championships receive a bid to the CWPA Championship, which will take place Nov. 22-24 at Brown. Bucknell has advanced to the CWPA Championship each of the last 13 years and made its first title game appearance since 1993 last fall.
Southern Championships Schedule (Annapolis, Md. – Lejeune Hall)
Friday, Nov. 8
Game 1: No. 8 seed Gannon vs. No. 9 seed Notre Dame College, 5 p.m.
Game 2: No. 7 seed Washington & Jefferson vs. No. 10 seed Monmouth College, 6:20 p.m.
Game 3: No. 6 seed George Washington vs. No. 11 seed Salem International, 7:40 p.m.
Game 4: No. 5 seed Navy vs. No. 12 seed Penn State Behrend, 9 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 9
Game 5: No. 1 seed Princeton vs. Winner Game 1, 9 a.m.
Game 6: No. 2 seed Bucknell vs. Winner Game 2, 10:20 a.m.
Game 7: No. 3 seed Mercyhurst vs. Winner Game 3, 11:40 a.m.
Game 8: No. 4 seed Johns Hopkins vs. Winner Game 4, 1 p.m.
Game 9: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4, 2:20 p.m.
Game 10: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 3:40 p.m.
Game 11: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8, 5 p.m.
Game 12: Loser Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7, 6:20 p.m.
Game 13: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 8, 7:40 p.m.
Game 14: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7, 9 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 10
11th Place: Loser Game 9 vs. Loser Game 10, 9 a.m.
Ninth Place: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 10:20 a.m.
Seventh Place: Loser Game 11 vs. Loser Game 12, 11:40 a.m.
Fifth Place: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12, 1 p.m.
Third Place: Loser Game 13 vs. Loser Game 14, 2:20 p.m.
First Place: Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14, 3:40 p.m.
