Editor’s Note: Swimming World has made a habit of traveling to various conference championships for NCAA varsity women’s water polo. Two years ago we covered the 2017 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Women’s Water Polo Tournament at UCLA, and last year it was the finals of the 2018 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) at Bucknell University.
This year it’s the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) at McCann Natatorium on the Marist campus. The final was a decisive win for the Wagner Seahawks, who not only won their sixth-straight MAAC title—in their ninth consecutive appearance in the tournament’s title match—but are undefeated in four years of conference play.
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY. Top-seeded Wagner’s 8-4 win over number #2 seed Marist in the MAAC title match, a game that was not nearly as competitive as the final score. Swimming World went looking for some additional perspectives on a season that had an interesting twist—Wagner and Marist being assessed a double forfeit for playing a match in Los Angeles that was not officially sanctioned by the conference for inclusion in the team’s conference schedule. For this transgression, Wagner’s epic 57-match win streak in MAAC play is over.
[Wagner Women’s Water Polo Captures 6th Straight MAAC Title With 8-4 Win over Marist]
In the end, the result was the same as has occurred the past six years; the Seahawks beat the Red Foxes and will now move on to the 2019 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Tournament and a play-in match against UC San Diego next Tuesday at noon PST in Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center.
[2019 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Tournament Bracket Announced]
Following are select quotes from various participants and interested parties.
***
Fresh over being named last Friday as the 2019 MAAC Women’s Water Coach of the Year, Tom Hyham, Head Coach for the La Salle men’s and women’s teams, was in the McCann stands sporting a bright red Marist shirt. Turns out, his daughter Marina is a freshman goalie for the Red Foxes.
How to stop the Seahawks?
Tom Hyham: As far as Wagner goes, they’re an extremely talented team. That’s the first thing—they’ve got the talent.
Second thing; the main things that are making Wagner what they are is: they’ve got Chris Radmonovich, who’s extremely detailed—the guy knows game plan after game plan. He goes after every single game like it’s a championship game. And the second thing is the physicality. Wagner will beat a team on physicality alone.
Photo Courtesy: T. Hyham
You can see in this game—four goals in a game, that’s a tribute to their physicality. They play stifling defense and it’s next to impossible to get past at this level.
It comes to tapping into the best talent that the United States has to offer. That being said, all the coaches in our conference will likely agree that getting an international player or two at the highest level in their game [is important].
If you can stop a team from scoring—you’re going to win the game.
Keeping up with Wagner’s depth of talent.
Hyham: When you look at water polo on an international level, the United States produces the best team in the world. That means we can get some of the best players coming up from [American] youth programs. It comes down to being able to tap into the higher-level talent that the United States has to offer.
That being said, I think all the coaches in our conference may agree, getting an international player or two that’s on the highest level of their game—and clearly Chris puts together a program that exploits that.
If you can stop a team from scoring, you’re going to win the game. And good defense creates good offense—and he has a very good eye for picking that out.
And like Gabby just said—creating that model and he’s got a very good model. A lot of us will be stealing that to a certain degree.
But I do think that tapping into the talent that’s here is also a good thing. Marist is almost all national players. They’re U.S. players. [Coach Vidale] has two, three, four international players but he put together an 8-4 game against [Wagner] and they had a one goal game against them earlier. So, the talent is here. It’s just a matter of being able to bring it into our program. That will be something that we see in the next few years.
***
Standing next to Hyham was Gabby Juarez, Head Coach for the LIU Brooklyn squad that will get in the water—and compete in the MAAC—for the first time in 2020. Named to head the conference’s newest member, Juarez was sizing up the competition as she builds for a season which will start next January.
Drawing talent to LIU Brooklyn’s new program.
Gabby Juarez: Wagner has a high standard with their talent, so it’s just like trying to match that as much as possible. [We’re] trying to build a model where we can compete against that.
Having Wagner in our conference allows for more talent to come in; it sets that bar so high.
Every team here wants to match Wagner; if that’s not your intention, you’re missing the point, which is to beat the champions.
Steinberg Wellness Center Pool. Photo Courtesy: LIU Brooklyn Athletics
How helpful is location—in this case Brooklyn—to your recruiting?
Juarez: There were a lot of kids who were one team or the other—you just say “Brooklyn” and they’re gonna come. Having that Brooklyn name, we’ve gotten a lot of players because of that.
To say it’s not an advantage… it is. We’re able to get the international athletes and able to get domestic athletes [as well]. But because we have the Brooklyn name we’re able to get interest from West Coast players—which is exciting.
***
This year, Virginia Military Institute qualified for it’s third straight MAAC tournament. They went down to a 10-4 defeat at the hands of Iona—meaning the Keydets finished fourth again. But not for lack of effort, led by Sarah Dolitsky, who is the team’s emotional leader, and Isabelle French, who—baring injury—will likely finish as the MAAC all-time saves leader when she graduates next year.
Sunday’s match was Dolitsky last wearing VMI’s colors—she’ll ship out later this month for a career in the United State Army—and proved a poignant ending to what has been memorable run by Head Coach Ryan Pryor’s squad, which until 2017 had never come close to qualifying for the post season.
[Catching Up with VMI’s Ryan Pryor and the Surprising Keydets]
It means a lot to you to be here again.
Sarah Dolitsky: It was a lot of fun coming back here for a third year. My freshmen year was the only year we didn’t make it, but then sophomore, junior and senior year. We haven’t come away with a win yet—that just sets up the future to get that win. I’m confident they can do it next year but I had a really good time being here.
Progressing from freshman to graduation and a commission in the U.S. Army.
Dolitsky: I graduate on the 16th and on the 22nd I drive down to start flight school. I’ll be a helicopter pilot for the Army. I’m really excited about that. But I’m definitely going to miss water polo.
I came into VMI focusing on just water polo. I didn’t think I would commission, but then as the years went on I still really cared about water polo but also started to focus on the army and grades. But polo has always been that stress release along the way. Senior year has been the most fun season yet, which is helpful because I’ve had a lot of stress with the Army and having to move out soon. Water polo’s the perfect outlet for that. And a great place to bond with my team.
VMI’s Isabelle French. Photo Courtesy: Chuck Steenburgh / VMI Athletics
Since you arrived from Naperville, Illinois you’ve been a difference maker for the Keydets.
Isabelle French: It’s my teammates who have really helped me grow. Coming from a high school that probably wasn’t really great than coming to a college where all the ladies are amazing shooters. It’s really helped me grow, and I wouldn’t be here without their help along the way.
I came from Neuqua Valley which hasn’t been one of the strongest schools in Illinois. But, some of the best and brightest, such as Sarah come from [Illinois]—her shooting has helped me get better.
A second period injury caused you to come out of a match where your team desperately needed you.
French: This isn’t the first time I’ve been injured this season. I take a step back and I make sure that I’m actually okay. I’d never want to play concussed. I got patched up and put back in. There’s nothing more that I want then to finish out this season with my team.
[Mayall vs. USA Water Polo; A Landmark Case for Concussions Promises Profound Changes for Polo]
I would definitely say [that] my whole job is defense, and I always want to be there for my team as a big presence in goal. Safety first; I would never want to impact my future playing water polo by coming back too early.
***
Iona has now won the last six third place games at the MAAC Championships—which is not exactly how Gaels’ Head Coach Brian Kelly wants to end his season. Now in 29th year in New Rochelle—25 as a head coach and four as one of the best players in program history—Kelly is the only coach Iona women’s polo has ever known.
You finish up the 2019 season with a win and a 10-6 record in MAAC play.
Brian Kelly: It’s nice to get a win here but any time you’re not in the championship, it’s not a successful season for us. We’re thinking bigger picture.
The one thing is we are young—seven freshmen, seven sophomores—we’re only graduating one field player. We’re pretty much going to be the same team next year with some additions.
We’re really happy because we have some girls who we’re trying to figure out what they’re going to be. Jill Schultz took over as primary center for us. We weren’t sure if she was going to be utility, outside or inside—but she really took to the center position.
She’s still learning and is going to be a terror the next three years.
Iona Coach Brian Kelly (center) and his 2019 women’s squad. Photo Courtesy: Iona Athletics
The same with Maeve Wydan, who started off inside at two-meter defense. We put her at center, we put her outside; she’s still learning what she can do. She could be a really good center defender and dominate on either side if she just understands how strong she is.
Laura Rockett’s a converted swimmer who’s had a phenomenal tournament for us and has been a great 2-meter defender. Jordan van Reeken is our motor; she gets us going both offensively and defensively. Nobody works harder than her in the water.
That’s a really young group with a lot of young girls around them—so we’re excited for the future.
How do you keep your young core developing, especially with the summer break?
Kelly: They need to play all year—at home with their club team, former club team, find a club team, find a master’s team… play with somebody! You can’t be a five-month out of the year water polo player. You need to be playing all school year and especially all summer.
The biggest thing with this sport converting to 8-minute quarters—that’s an extra half a quarter in a game. Every single game, sometime four over a weekend… you really have got to be able to swim in this game now.
With such a young team, the thing they don’t get is conditioning at this level.
You train them and then you watch a game of us against Marist where we have trouble advancing the ball, we have trouble getting open for each other. You need to work harder on your conditioning.
Training is a will. Conditioning is a will. Getting open for your teammates where you’re getting full-pressed against a really good team is will. When you want to train, when you want to work, you’re going to do it in games.
How good is Illinois polo?
Kelly: Illinois water polo has really expanded. it’s a lot bigger than when I was in high school. There’s 100+ boys’ and girls’ teams in the state. It’s amazing where you can find some talent.
It’s expanded so greatly that you don’t always have to go to the Fenwicks or the McAuleys or the Brother Rices or the Loyola’s. It was predominately a Catholic sport and now it’s all over the place. We’re finding gems everywhere. They’re out there—no question.
I had a player—Erika Lauraitis—on my NCAA teams who was from William Fremd High School and the best player in the state, and nobody knew about her. She’s a big reason we went to three NCAA tournaments.
***
Even though she’s only a freshman, Iona’s Jillian Schultz is already one of the Gaels’ leaders. That’s what comes when your sister is one of the best players in program history. Hannah Schultz, who graduated last spring, is Iona women’s water polo all-time leading scorer (379 goals). Her sister is off to a great start—74 goals, 22 assists and was a 2019 All-MAAC Second Team selection.
Iona’s Jillian Schultz. Photo Courtesy: Iona Athletics
Iona is no longer your sister’s team.
Jillian Schultz: It’s fun to start to fill her footsteps—I’m not there yet but it’s definitely a goal of mine. It’s everyone helping around the team, setting the ball. It’s nice to be playing the position she played—hopefully I’m going to do it as well as her. It’s super fun because she’s my sister and I look up to her.
it helps to have the whole team around supporting you.
You’ve got a young team that’s growing up together.
Schultz: It might just be me but this is definitely one of his most talented classes. We have lefties, we have people who can drive, people who can shoot from the outside, post up… lots of centers and center defenders. I think this class is going to do big things. By the end of our senior year we definitely could do something special with this program.
You played high school polo for Mother McAuley.
We don’t get a lot of recognition in Chicago. They kind of look past us—it’s mainly West and East Coast. We’ve got to work a little harder for our goals and for our assists and in general because we don’t get the recognition that other people do. And there are some hidden gems in the Midwest. you just got to find them.
First time participating in the MAAC tournament.
Schultz: It’s a lot of fun to watch my sister do it and [now] there’s four more years of a Schultz here. If my younger sister comes to Iona or the East Coast, there’s another four years of a Schultz here. It’s a super cool tradition to come here every year.