Women's Water Polo Confronts Top-Ranked Foes

Last season, the Harvard women’s water polo team went 0-4 collectively against conference rivals Indiana, Michigan, and Princeton. Though its three rivals have remained among the top 16 squads in the nation, the Crimson has returned to the pool in 2016 looking much improved.

No. 13 Harvard (19-4, 0-0 CWPA), now holding its highest ranking ever, is set to take on the same trio this weekend at Canham Natatorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where it will face the No. 15 Hoosiers (15-6, 0-1) and the No. 8 Wolverines (20-6, 1-0) on Saturday, followed by the No. 16 Tigers (13-3, 0-0) on Sunday morning.

Saturday afternoon’s game against host Michigan is the team’s senior night and will be broadcasted live on the Big Ten Network.

“It’s quite the weekend,” Harvard coach Ted Minnis said. “It’s quite the 24 hours. It’s going to be fun to play these games because it’s high-level water polo and that’s why we do what we do—to compete and to compete against the best.”

The trio of matches constitutes the kickoff of conference play for the Crimson. The team has mostly found success during the regular season, posting an 8-3 record against teams ranked in the top 25 and playing to an overall 19-4 mark.

Still, Minnis insisted that conference play requires the ability to adjust. The sixth-year coach has repeatedly emphasized preparation for conference play, and Saturday marks the time to begin implementing that preparation.

“Now that you’ve got film and they have film, you see what kinds of things that [other teams] are doing,” Minnis said. “It’s going to be adjustments made and seeing how teams react to those adjustments.”

The Crimson has already had a taste of Indiana and Princeton from earlier this season. In February, Harvard squeaked by the Hoosiers in overtime, snapping a 13-game losing streak to the team, but dropped its 22nd straight game to the Tigers in March.

The Crimson is now 1-13 all-time against Indiana and 12-37 against Princeton. Harvard has yet to play the Wolverines this season but is 2-8-1 against them all-time.

The Crimson’s opponents will have to contend with standout rookie Kristen Hong, who leads the team with 59 goals, 26 assists, and 32 steals and has garnered a Harvard-record five CWPA I/II Rookie of the Week awards.

Joining her in the Crimson history books is sophomore goalie Cleo Harrington, who has claimed four CWPA I/II Defensive Player of the Week awards. She has racked up 190 saves, 15 assists, and nine steals on the season.

Hong is not alone in generating offensive output for the Crimson, however. Four different Harvard players—junior attackers Michelle Martinelli and Melissa Balding and senior attackers Yoshi Andersen and Charlotte Hendrix—have at least 32 goals; together the four teammates have accounted for 142 scores.

The other end of the pool will feature several standout players to counteract the Crimson’s star power. Michigan senior attacker and captain Ali Thomason has been a goal-scoring machine, churning out 64 goals, in addition to having a stellar 90-10 mark in opening sprints. Michigan sophomore attacker Caroline Andersen, meanwhile, has contributed 34 goals, 51 assists, and 36 steals.

“[Andersen’s] a very talented player, and I don’t know if you can really game plan for Caroline,” said Minnis, who has coached Andersen's older sisters in past years. “She’s able to score the ball, she’s able to pass the ball to set up for assists, [and] she’s a very dynamic player. She’s got great speed. You just have to hope that you can know where she is, protect one phase, and hope she doesn’t get to you in the other phase.”

Princeton sophomore utility Haley Wan leads the Tigers with 32 goals, 24 assists, and 22 steals in only 16 games. Indiana sophomore defender Kelly Matthews has put up 95 points, with 56 goals and 39 assists, to lead any player amongst the four teams in points, though Hong and Andersen aren’t far behind.

Harvard, Michigan, Indiana, and Princeton all will have played each other at least once by this weekend’s end. To kick off the round robin tournament featuring the teams, the Wolverines defeated the Hoosiers in the first game of conference play last Saturday, constituting Michigan’s 16th victory over a top-25 opponent this season.

–Staff writer Bryan Hu can be reached at bhu01@college.harvard.edu.