Spring Break Tournament Successful for W. Water Polo

While many Harvard students were enjoying a week of relaxation over spring break, the Harvard women's water polo team was making a splash out in California, competing in the Pomona Tournament against some of the best teams on the West Coast.

During the week, the teams they faced included California Polytech, University of California at Redlands and former national champions, the University of California at San Diego.

Powered by great goaltending by co-captain Cheryl Frank, the speed of sophomore Mary Naber and the skills of co-captain Missy Ford, junior Ann-Marie Sevcsik, senior Amy Tully and senior Ana Dujmovic, Harvard beat two of the four teams, and secured sixth place out of twelve teams.

During the tournament, the team noticed some differences in the style of play and the involvement of the referees.

"The refereeing is very different on the West Coast," senior Laura Lederer said. "The refs don't call as much and many of the calls that were made went against us, so it felt really good to win games and prove that we belonged, even as an East Coast team."

Following the tournament, the squad had three scrimmages. They went 1-2 on the scrimmage circuit, falling to Occidental and Pomona and topping Claremont.

Despite its youth, the team quickly developed chemistry on its West Coast sojourn.

"I was really impressed by the performance of the team, and by the fact that even though there are a lot of young players on the team, everyone's come together nicely," senior Tracey Guice said.

The team was pleased with its showing out West, especially against the stiff competition the tournament featured.

"We were all really pleased with our performance," junior Joan Ryoo said.

This past weekend, Harvard competed in the MIT Tournament, winning all four of their games. The highlight of the tournament was when the team defeated UMass-Amherst in overtime in what Guice described as "a very intense game."

Next up for the squad is Brown Thursday night. It is also looking forward to the Northern Division Championships and Easterns, where they have a chance to qualify for Nationals.

"The team is definitely a force to be reckoned with," Guice said.