Pomona-Pitzer Water Polo Dominates Ivies
By Tamara Zakim
Sports Editor

Any illusions harbored about East Coast Ivy League superiority over West Coast Liberal Arts colleges were quickly smashed in Pomona-Pitzer's thorough poundings of Yale and Harvard last week at Haldeman Pool. Sagehen women's water polo asserted their dominance early in both match-ups and emerged with a 7-4 victory over the Crimson and a 15-6 thumping of the Bulldogs. The wins raised the Hens to 8-6, giving the team a needed boost of confidence before the opening of SCIAC competition tomorrow at Redlands.

A delayed start and malfunctioning scoreboard did not stall the Hens' offensive efforts against Harvard last Wednesday. In a steal off the opening toss, driver Blair Henderson '04 aggressively pushed the ball towards the Crimson goal to convert the one-on-nobody and set the tone for the game. A sluggish pace and poor ball protection by both teams marked the following five minutes of play, until two-meter defender Lauren Moore '05 drilled a clean outside shot past the Crimson goalie off an assist by whole-set Lucia Schmit '03.

Harvard lacked any offensive spark in the first quarter, often forcing the ball into their whole-set and wildly missing their outside shots. Sagehen defender Moore was instrumental in shutting down Harvard's two-meter player; a steal and a block by Moore in consecutive possessions effectively deflated the possibilities of Harvard's inside game.

The opening of the second quarter quickly produced a third goal for the Hens in a six-on-five opportunity. An ejection drawn by whole-set Toby Branz '05 gave Pomona-Pitzer the advantage, and a blistering low corner shot by Henderson only thirty seconds into the quarter raised the score 3-0.

Harvard finally managed to put themselves on the board on an outside shot with five minutes remaining in the half. Less than a minute later, however, driver Sarah Kalhorn '04 drew a four meter penalty shot when she was fouled on a counter attack. Joy Haviland '03 completed the play to put the Hens up 4-1.

The inability to successfully run a counter-attack or challenge the Pomona-Pitzer goalie continued to stall Harvard's offensive efforts, until an ejection gave the Crimson a 6-on-5 opportunity with a minute left in the half. A quick shot at the goal before the Hens could adjust defensively brought the half to a close with a score of 4-2.

The second half proved more exciting, with an intensified Harvard effort and solid all-around defense by the Hens in response. Ultimately, the Crimson met their match in the form of back-up Sagehen goalie Marcella de Vivo '04. De Vivo, returning to the pool for Pomona-Pitzer after a leave of absence and starting in place of Morgan Sokolow '04, who sat out with a dislocated finger, gave a brilliant performance in Wednesday's game to preserve the Sagehen lead.

De Vivo sparked the first goal of the second half with a perfectly placed counter-attack pass up the pool to Kalhorn, who assisted Lara Kruska '06 on goal for a score of 5-2. Schmit followed with a series of strong plays on both the defensive and offensive end. With only one ref manning the deck of pool, however, blatant fouls against Schmit in the hole were left mostly uncalled, much to the consternation of Sagehen fans. With three minutes to play in the third, Schmit finally drew a well-deserved ejection and, finding herself wide open in front of the cage, received the ball to convert the 6-on-5.

A counter-attack by Harvard came up empty-handed when De Vivo produced a spectacular block with arms outstretched. Only twenty seconds later, a Harvard 6-on-5 opportunity was denied by consecutive saves by De Vivo. A last-second shot by the Crimson was also deflected in a diving save by the Sagehen goalie.

Harvard raised the score to 7-3 early in the fourth quarter with a powerful shot from their whole-set. Whether from mental lapse or physical exhaustion, the Sagehens failed to convert two 6-on-5 advantages, and a counter-attack by Harvard off the man-up situation prompted a lop that sailed into the net behind De Vivo with 3:30 left in the game.

Time-outs by Harvard to discuss strategy in the last minutes of play were called in vain as Pomona-Pitzer managed to hold together and protect their lead. Blocked shots by Moore and Haviland deflected any hopes of a Crimson come-back, and the game clock expired with a 7-4 score.

The Sagehens also handed Yale an embarrassing 15-6 trouncing in their March 21 match-up. Three goals by Schmit in the early minutes of the game, padded by the contributions of Lindsay Norcott '03, Branz, and Ashley Gucinski '06 with one goal apiece in the first quarter, gave the Hens a secure 6-1 lead. Two additional goals by Branz and a shot by Stephanie Stewart '05 boosted the score to 9-3 at halftime. Stewart and Gucinski added their second goals of the night in the third quarter, and points tallied by Fiona Dunbar '03, Kruska and Henderson yielded a 15-6 score at the close of the game. Goalie Sokolow finished the evening with 6 blocks and 4 steals, Henderson wracked up an impressive 7 steals, and Moore chipped in with 4 assists.

Tomorrow, Pomona-Pitzer faces its biggest game of the year so far in its SCIAC opener at home against Redlands. The Sagehens and the Bulldogs were tied for first place national ranking in NCAA Division III water polo last week, and both teams are focused on securing conference and national championships.

"The biggest thing for us is offensive production," said Coach Jason Gall when asked about the highly anticipated showdown. "We've been playing really solid defense, and if we can match that with consistent offensive effort, it's going to be a great game."