Water Polo Ready For Fresh Start
10/12/2004 8:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Oct. 12, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland women's water polo team is ready for a fresh start.
After going 0-12 last year in the program's inaugural season, the team has a new coach and a new outlook.
"Nobody has any fun when they go 0-12," said first-year head coach Carl Salyer. "My first goal is that [the players] are challenged and that we compete and train at the Division-I level, but also make it an experience where they feel like they're learning, they're having some fun and they're getting better every game we play at the game of water polo. If we can finish this season with them feeling like they've accomplished more as individuals and as a team than they thought was possible, I'll consider that a success."
The Terps recently took advantage of a non-traditional fall schedule, traveling to Bucknell for three games Sept. 19 and again Oct. 3. Maryland competed against its Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division rival Bucknell, as well as several top-level club teams.
Salyer said everyone involved, from the team to the opponents to the spectators, noticed the vast improvements the Terps made from one game to the next, and he said he believes the team will greatly benefit from the six exhibition games, which are half of the total games Maryland played all of last season.
"Water polo is basically a game of experience, and the experience was a great one," Salyer said. "I went up there not in an effort to win games; I went up there to get everybody playing time, get everybody some experience....The goal was to get everybody time, try to bring everybody along as quickly as we can and to hopefully get a lot of those things that a new program has to learn and develop out here in the non-traditional fall season so we hopefully have a little bit of a head start going into the spring season."
The fall season served as much for the players to get that experience in the water as it did to allow Salyer to get to know his new team, and so far, he's liked what he's seen.
"They have a great attitude, they're very coachable, they want to learn, they want to play hard," he said. "They've been working hard, and they've done everything that I've asked of them. I've been very pleased and very proud of what they've done to this point. I expect that we're going to have a real good season."
Despite losing the top two scorers from 2004, Meghan Graves and Laura Nolan, who accounted for almost 50 percent of the Terps' goals, Salyer is not overly concerned.
"I know that they were big parts of the program last year, not only in the pool playing but also leadership-wise out of the pool, but that's part of the nature of being a collegiate program," he said. "You're always going to be graduating players, and that gives the other players a chance to learn and develop and grow into those leadership roles. I see several players taking part in the leadership not only in the pool but outside the pool."
They include fifth-year senior Elyse Corwin and her sister, junior Marissa Corwin. Elyse was third on the team with six goals last year and tied for fourth in steals with 16.
"She's one of the leaders already, taking charge outside of the pool as well as in, and will be somebody who plays real significant minutes and helps us along," Salyer said.
Marissa saw the most minutes in goal and excelled at that position, tallying more than 100 saves.
"She's just a stud," Salyer said. "To have a good, solid goalie is a nice place to start when building a team. She's already made some fantastic plays and she's got a great attitude. The team really enjoys playing in front of her, and I think that's key for a goalie."
Salyer also will rely on senior Colleen McShane and juniors Allison Kuzniar and Rebecca Kadushin. Despite playing in only four games last year, McShane scored four goals and tallied 13 steals. Kuzniar was second on the team in steals with 18, and she scored five goals.
"Allison will probably be our number one two-meter set person, or center back, which is very similar to center in basketball," Salyer said. "She'll be posting up for the team in front of the goal. That's probably the most physical of all the positions in water polo, and she's already doing a great job."
Kadushin played 11 of the Terps' 12 games in 2004, and this year looks to be the team's top two-meter defender.
"She's tough, she's never-say-die, she'll take a beating and keep on going," Salyer said.
The Terps' regular season boasts a complete schedule this year, with seven league games, as well as five invitational tournaments. Maryland will host the Terrapin Invite Feb. 25-26.
In addition, despite the 2005 season being only the program's second at varsity status, Salyer has schedule an Alumni Game for March 12, hoping that former club players will return and become involved.
"Maryland has a long history in water polo with the club program that preceded the program when it turned varsity," Salyer said. "Back in the '90s, they had a lot of success. They were nationally competitive on the club level before a lot of teams went varsity....I want to try to include those players as much as possible and make them feel a part of this program as much as possible."
Salyer comes to Maryland after five years as an assistant coach at Navy. He helped lead the Midshipmen to two NCAA Final Four appearances and a 25-8 record last season. He inherits a winless program, but he looks forward to turning the team around.
"I just felt like it was a tremendous opportunity to really build a program that was something special, and I thought that the support was here and the opportunity was here to be real successful," he said.
The Terps' regular season begins Feb. 12-13 at the Princeton Invite. Maryland's first home games are Feb. 25-26 at the Terrapin Invite, with the first conference games March 5 against Princeton and Salem International in Salem, W.Va. The Terps also have a home game March 30 against George Washington, and they host a league weekend April 8-9. The CWPA Southern Division Championship is April 23-24 in Lewisburg, Pa.
