Bucknell University Athletics
Women's Water Polo Opens Season with Six Home Games this Weekend
2/12/2015 1:57:00 PM | Women's Water Polo
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell women's water polo team will have a busy opening weekend of the 2015 season. The Bison Invitational will take place this weekend at Kinney Natatorium and Bucknell will play six games in a 48-hour span. Overall, 20 games will be played as part of the three-day Bison Invitational.
The Bison's season commences Friday with a 7 p.m. contest against Notre Dame College. Bucknell then plays George Washington (12:30 p.m.) and Siena (5:30 p.m.) on Saturday. Sunday's schedule features games against league foe Hartwick (8 a.m.), VMI (11:45 a.m.) and St. Francis Brooklyn (4:45 p.m.).
Bucknell is 61-36 all-time at Kinney Natatorium and its first 10 games of the campaign will be at home.
Following this weekend, the Bison will be idle for one weekend before returning to action Feb. 28-March 1 for four league games at Kinney Natatorium. The March 1 contests against Harvard and Brown will have live video broadcasts on Bison Vision on the Patriot League Network.
Below is a closer look at the Bison entering the 2015 season:
With the loss of five starters from last year's team and the addition of six freshmen expected to play significant minutes, Bucknell fourth-year head coach John McBride will use the early part of the long 2015 campaign figuring out exactly what his team will bring to the table.
“We are going to be younger. We are going to be faster. But we don't really know what we have right now,” commented McBride a couple days prior to the team's season-opening weekend. “There are a thousand different lineups we can utilize. We are going to continue to evaluate the skill set of each player and will aim to get better throughout the year so we can peak at the CWPA Championship.”
Bucknell is coming off a sixth-place finish at last year's CWPA Championship, its best showing since 2010. The Bison also had a five-win improvement from the previous year and McBride expects the victory total to continue to rise.
Due to so many new faces on the roster, which includes 10 total freshmen and sophomores, McBride set up the Bison schedule to start a little later in February than many other teams to gain some additional preseason practice time to work on the fundamentals and develop a strong base.
“The more we can practice, the more we can gel as a team and learn to communicate,” noted McBride, who has 99 career wins at Bucknell as coach of the men's and women's programs. “We won't be great at everything out of the gate, but our younger players will have some time to adapt and learn our philosophies.”
In addition to easing into the season, Bucknell has the luxury of playing its first 10 games at Kinney Natatorium, a place it has excelled, winning nearly 63 percent of its home contests since the facility opened in 2003.
Among the Bison that won't need much early season adjustment is junior Hannah Sunday, a First Team All-CWPA Southern Division selection a year ago. The junior co-captain broke the school single-season record for ejections drawn (120) last spring and will continue to hold down the starting role at the physical center position.
“Hannah is a huge part of our offense and is a great defender as well,” noted McBride about the team's second-leading goal scorer (33) a year ago. “She is a great leader that works hard, never misses a practice and never quits. She is tough as nails and it rubs off on other players when they see her getting after it.”
Last year, Sunday was the only true center on the roster and was forced to play about 25 minutes per game. Freshman Shyla Lintz will be counted on to split time with Sunday this season.
“Shyla has a tremendous upside,” praised McBride about the rookie who went to the same high school (Cumberland Valley) as Sunday. “Having the ability to put her in there to battle will be nice and will keep Hannah fresher and even more effective.”
After three years as a valuable reserve, Sunday's fellow co-captain Sayeh Bozorghadad is expected to move into the starting lineup. The senior is a veteran of 89 career games and has totaled 18 goals, 24 assists and 22 steals over her first three years.
“Sayeh is a very smart player with a high IQ,” said McBride. “She understands everything we are trying to do and sees the pool well. She mixes it up with the bigger players and is a vocal leader who holds her teammates accountable.”
Bozorghadad is one of two seniors on the roster along with Taylor Barnett. Barnett was an all-conference choice and Rookie of the Year as a freshman in 2012, but has been hampered by injuries each of the last two seasons. The Houston, Texas, native is eight goals shy of 100 for her career and her 87 ejections drawn place her 14th on Bucknell's all-time list.
“It has been a long road for Taylor the last couple of years fighting with her shoulder injuries,” mentioned McBride. “We think we have her ready to go. It is her senior year so I don't think there is an injury or any pain that is going to keep her from finishing strong.”
Barnett was Bucknell's top goal scorer as a rookie, but that honor this season could go to junior Eleanor Marrs. After deferring to upperclassmen as a freshman in 2013, Marrs became an offensive force last spring, ranking fourth on the team with 29 goals and second on the squad with 63 points. The left-hander is one of two returning Bison to have started all 27 games a year ago.
“Eleanor is very fast and a great defender,” commented McBride. “Her freshman year she didn't want to shoot the ball. Last year we made it mandatory. We are sticking with that same theme. We told her to take the shots and that we trust her to make the right decisions.”
Sophomore Tegan Stanbach is likely to fill one of the gaps in the starting lineup. The center defender saw action in every game last season and totaled nine goals and 11 assists in addition to ranking fifth on the team with 15 steals. She earned CWPA Southern Division Rookie of the Week honors after the season-opening Bison Invitational.
“Tegan has gotten a lot better,” said McBride. “She had limited playing time last year because she was learning the game. The center defender position is tough to play, but she has started to figure it out. She will make a big impact for us.”
Junior Martine McCarthy, who was forced to play out of position last year, will add depth at the utility position and be a solid player on the perimeter.
McBride noted that junior Kathrine DeRuff will continue to be a strong leader in her role, while sophomores Julia Ingersoll and Julia Ulrich will see additional playing time this year after learning the system last season.
The big battle on the team is at the goalkeeper position where sophomore Haley Derrod and freshman Manuela Herrera are both in the mix to win the starting job. McBride expects both goalies to play three games the opening weekend of the season and their play in the pool will decide who is eventually named the full-time starter.
“Goalie is going to be a tightly contested position,” predicted McBride. “They are both really good. It is up to them to decide who is going to play. It is always nice to have two people who push each other and understand nothing is given, it is earned.”
Derrod last year served as a backup to four-year starter Rena Heim. She recorded a team-best .538 save percentage in 10 appearances.
McBride is high on his freshman class that features Gigi Joudrie, Kendyl Johnson, Colleen Barron and Marta Considine in addition to Herrera and Lintz.
“All our freshmen will play. Some will start. They will all make contributions,” said McBride. “They are all fast and will help us in our counter attack, which is an important part of our offense.”
