Another rowdy standing-room only crowd at Haldeman Pool, another USA Water Polo Division III National Championship.
This time it was the 91做厙-Pitzer women who took a celebratory leap into the pool after their 8-6 win over Whittier College on Sunday gave them the national title. They completed a Sagehens sweep of the mens and womens Division III polo titles with some of the mens players who won the title in December cheering them on from the stands.
The crowd at Haldeman was part of what made this experience really special for our team, says attacker Lucie Abele 22. We love hearing students, friends and family cheering us on and having fun, and that support makes games really fun and is super motivating.
Combined with the mens cross country teams NCAA Division III championship in November, teams have claimed an unprecedented three national titles this academic year.
It was also a remarkable double for the coaching staff led by Alex Rodriguez, professor of physical education and coach of both the mens and womens water polo teams.
For years, the top Division III teams advanced to the NCAAs single-division water polo tournaments only to be quickly eliminated by Division I powers. The sports national governing body decided to create an alternative to the NCAA tournament, a final four for Division III. This year marked the first USA Water Polo tournament for the women after a two-year pandemic delay.
I thank USA Water Polo, says Rodriguez, who also has served the organization as a men's assistant coach in the Olympics. Ive been pretty fortunate to have a long list of amazing women play for me and carry me to these moments. This championship is different. A national championship is different. It feels amazing. It doesnt feel like it used to feel to win conference and go to the NCAAs against Division I teams.
I was surprised on the mens side how much love we got for winning the D-III championship, and I expected the same thing. I am truly touched with this opportunity.
The Sagehen women were No. 1 in the preseason Division III national rankings, and they were No. 1 when the season ended. But the title felt like a long time coming for the teams five seniors: Abele, Nadia Paquin 22, Allison Sullivan Wu 22, Katherine Cullen PZ 22 and Jessy Nesbit PZ 22. They lost a year-and-a-half of their careers to the pandemicthe second half of their sophomore season and their entire junior season.
We were just really excited to have another opportunity at the championship, says Cullen. To have our sophomore and junior seasons robbed from us, we knew this was our last chance.
An underclassman came up big in the final, as Namlhun Jachung PZ 24 scored two goals and added four assists for the Sagehens, who never trailed. The SCIAC Newcomer of the Year, Jachung was selected tournament most valuable player after her breakaway goal with 1:54 left in the game turned a two-goal lead into a more comfortable 8-5 lead.
Abele, the Sagehens leading goal-scorer during the regular season, and Abigail Wiesenthal 24 each also scored two goals, and goalkeeper Zosia Amberger 25 held off the Poets attempts to come back in the second half.
To win the national championship, the Sagehens had to defeat No. 2-ranked Whittier for the fourth time this season. They beat the Poets twice during an undefeated SCIAC regular season, again in the SCIAC tournament final and a fourth time in the USA Water Polo tournament.
The Sagehens overall record of 24-15 might seem surprising, but it reflects a decision by Rodriguez to challenge his players by taking on Div. 1 powers in nonconference play. They took their lumps but came out of it stronger.
Ive been fortunate to have a list of strong, confident ambitious women, Rodriguez says. You want to train with the best, right?
The strategy paid off with a championship.
We talked a lot about our USC game, how USC didnt beat us up. They just made quicker decisions than us. ... That experience, you really cant explain it. You actually have to be in the water and feel it. That helps us when they understand what I want from them, quicker decisions.
The seniors credited determination as well as the contributions of freshman and sophomores, all playing their first college seasons. The payoff was the chance to finish the season with a title.
We are a Division III program, and we do enjoy parts of the season being able to play Division I teams. We like having that competition, Nesbit says. But we like to have something for our division, something we can win and we can say were the best at. So just winning SCIACs and then going to play Division 1we would like to but were probably realistically never going to win that Division I tournament. So having something here where we can firmly say, We are the best. It really means a lot.