2004 Women's Water Polo Season Outlook
2/24/2004 7:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Feb. 24, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - There will be a new splash in the Campus Recreation Center Natatorium this year when the University of Maryland women's water polo team hits the pool for its inaugural season.
Women's water polo, which has been recognized by the CRC as a club sport since 1986, was elevated to varsity status last summer in its third attempt to be promoted. Scot Budde, a former Maryland swimmer, will lead the squad as the Terrapins' first head coach.
Budde is unsure of what to expect from his team this season, as many of his players are inexperienced. "I expect us to go through a few growing pains," he said. "We're just taking small steps toward becoming a big program. We don't expect everything to happen at once. We have a lot of girls who have limited experience. We have some girls who have been playing on the club team for a long time....So it's going to be a big mix of a lot of people just learning to play together for the first time."
Seniors Meghan Graves, Kelly Haisfield and Laura Nolan, who each have several years of club water polo experience under their belts, were elected co-captains for the team's inaugural season. Seniors Elyse Corwin and Sarah Wahba and sophomores Allison Kuzniar and Meghan Mulhern were also members of Maryland's club team.
Sophomore goalie Marissa Corwin transferred to Maryland this year after spending the 2003 season as a red-shirt at UC-Berkeley, and sophomore Megan Ingram transferred from Iona College, where she was a member of both the water polo and swim teams. Junior Colleen McShane also lettered in water polo in high school.
Most of the other team members, however, have little-to-no experience playing water polo, but are veteran competitive swimmers. "There are a lot of girls who have a lot of ability in the water who just haven't been playing the game for very long, and I think once they pick up on some of the nuances of the game, they can become really good players."
Maryland's club water polo team finished ninth in the country in 1998 with two All-Americans. At that time, water polo was not an official NCAA sport, so club and varsity teams could compete in the national championship.
Maryland will compete in the Collegiate Water Polo Association, as no other Atlantic Coast Conference schools field a water polo team. The CWPA consists of 32 schools located predominantly in the Northeastern part of the country and is split into four divisions. The Terps are in the Southern Division and will play two games each against division rivals Bucknell, George Washington, Princeton and Villanova. The Terps' first match is at home against George Washington March 3. Their regular season concludes with a double-header March 27 against Princeton and Bucknell in Princeton, N.J. The East Coast Athletic Association Championship is April 3 and 4 in Providence, R.I., and the Southern Division Championship is April 17 and 18 in Villanova, Pa.
