Women's Water Polo Heads to Harvard for this Weekend's Southern Championships

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell women's water polo team edged Brown by one goal on Sunday at Kinney Natatorium, clinching the No. 2 seed in this weekend's Southern Championships. The Bison are 10-11 overall and 3-2 in CWPA Southern Division play and their head-to-head win over the Bears gave them the tiebreaker as Brown is also 3-2 in conference games.

This year's Southern Championships will be hosted by Harvard. The six-team field is divided into two brackets, which will play round-robin competition on Saturday. The two first-place teams will square off in Sunday's championship game. The top three teams in the Southern Championships earn automatic berths to the CWPA Championship. One additional at-large berth will be awarded, with a Southern Division team favored to earn it.

Bucknell placed fifth at last year's Southern Championships as the No. 5 seed and its last title came in 2010.

The Bison are in a bracket with Mercyhurst and Brown. They will take on the sixth-seeded Lakers Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and will then face the third-seeded Bears at 8 p.m. Bucknell defeated Mercyhurst by an 11-5 score on the road two weeks ago and nipped Brown 7-6 on Sunday. The Bison are 3-3 overall against the Southern Championships field.

This will be Bucknell's second trip to Harvard's Blodgett Pool this year. The facility hosted the CWPA/MAAC Crossover in February and the Bison posted a 3-1 record at that event.

Bucknell, which has won three of its last four games, is led in the scoring column by senior co-captain Julianne Valdes, who has netted 29 goals this season. Her 47 points also top the squad. She now ranks sixth in program history with 288 career points, jumping ahead of Meg Blitzer (282) last weekend.

Sophomore Eleanor Marrs (45) and senior co-captain Mackenzie Ferry (43) are also over the 40-point plateau for the season.

Senior goalie Rena Heim is coming off a strong weekend where she posted three consecutive double-figure save performances and was named the CWPA Southern Division Defensive Player of the Week. Her 15 saves in Sunday's win over Brown marked a career high. Heim is just the third player in program history to reach 800 career saves as she will enter the weekend with 833 in her four-year tenure as a Bison.

Bucknell's Kinney Natatorium will serve as the host venue for the CWPA Championship April 25-27. The top three teams this weekend will earn automatic berths to that event. The Bison have participated in the CWPA Championship in 12 consecutive years.

Bucknell vs. Potential Weekend Opponents
Bucknell vs. Brown: 7-13 (Bucknell has won two of last three meetings)
Bucknell vs. George Washington: 32-19 (George Washington has won four of last five meetings)
Bucknell vs. Harvard: 9-14 (Bucknell snapped a seven-game losing streak with win last Saturday)
Bucknell vs. Mercyhurst: 10-1 (Bison have won last seven meetings)
Bucknell vs. Princeton: 5-36 (Tigers have won last eight meetings)

Bucknell's Weekly Awards/Honors in 2014
CWPA Southern Division Defensive Player of the Week: Rena Heim (Feb. 25, April 9)
CWPA Southern Division Rookie of the Week: Tegan Stanbach (Feb. 18)

Bison on Single-Season Record Lists
Hannah Sunday: Ejections Drawn (4th, 83)

Bison on Career Record Lists
Rena Heim: Saves (3rd, 833)
Stephanie Ovalle: Sprints Won (5th, 78)
Hannah Sunday: Ejections Drawn (6th, 132)
Julianne Valdes: Points (6th, 288), Goals (7th, 170), Assists (6th, 118), Ejections Drawn (7th, 129), Sprints Won (4th, 86), Shots (6th, 420), Games Started (8th, 111)

2014 Southern Championships Schedule:
Bracket A
1st Seed – Princeton
4th Seed – Harvard
5th Seed – George Washington

Bracket B
2nd Seed – Bucknell
3rd Seed – Brown
6th Seed – Mercyhurst

Saturday, April 12
Game 1 - Princeton vs. George Washington, 10 a.m.
Game 2 - Bucknell vs. Mercyhurst, 11:30 a.m.
Game 3 – Harvard vs. George Washington, 2:30 p.m.
Game 4 – Brown vs. Mercyhurst, 4 p.m.
Game 5 – Princeton vs. Harvard, 6:30 p.m.
Game 6 – Bucknell vs. Brown, 8 p.m.

Sunday, April 13
Game 7 (5th Place) – 3rd in Bracket A vs. 3rd in Bracket B, 10 a.m.
Game 8 (3rd Place) – 2nd in Bracket B vs. 2nd in Bracket A, 11:30 a.m.
Game 9 (1st Place) – 1st in Bracket A vs. 1st in Bracket B, 1 p.m.