By Eric Velazquez<\/p>\n
Baker\u2019s Dozen Putting the \u201cTeam\u201d into Team USA:
\nA team full of stories\u2026the touching return of Maureen O\u2019Toole to the pool to pursue her Olympic dream\u2026Brenda Villa\u2019s hand in helping to put the City of Commerce on the international water polo map\u2026the fact that Ericka Lorenz is representing the U.S. in the first ever women\u2019s Olympics at the tender age of 19\u2026Robin Beauregard\u2019s dive into the Olympic spotlight after sitting out most of the summer with an injury\u2026the list goes on and on. The Team USA women\u2019s water polo team has gone from last-ditch qualifier to gold medal
\ncontender in a summer\u2019s time, which is almost overnight in the grand scheme of things. But what\u2019s more, is that they\u2019ve done it as a team.<\/p>\n
All of the stories have melded together in the last week to send the U.S. into the medal round in the first ever women\u2019s Olympic water polo tournament. And while there has been some standout individual performances, the U.S. has put together some outstanding team numbers, receiving contributions from all 13 players on its roster.<\/p>\n
Entering tomorrow night\u2019s semifinals, the U.S. leads the tournament team
\ncategories in goals scored (36), extra man goals (20), exclusions drawn
\n(48), and extra man efficiency (56%). On the individual side of the coin,
\nthe U.S. is painfully absent from the top spots in any category.<\/p>\n
However, Baker\u2019s Dozen has received its 36 goals from nine different
\nplayers. Russia and Australia have received goal production from 11 and 10
\nplayers, respectively. In goal, the U.S. alternating-goalkeeper scheme has
\nworked marvelously, with U.S. keepers Nicolle Payne and Bernie Orwig
\nstopping 60% of shots fired their way. Orwig has 26 saves to Payne\u2019s 19,
\nwhile tournament leaders Josee Marsolais (Canada) and Karla Plugge
\n(Netherlands) have 36 each. However, Orwig has played 44 fewer minutes in
\nthe net than Marsolais, and 70 minutes fewer than Plugge.<\/p>\n
Offensively, the U.S. has five players with five or more goals. Brenda Villa
\nand Coralie Simmons lead the way with seven goals each, while teammates
\nEricka Lorenz, Maureen O\u2019Toole, and Robin Beauregard have five each.
\nBeauregard has only played in four of the team\u2019s five games. Defensively,
\nVilla leads the team in steals with eight, Simmons is tops in assists with
\nfour, and Julie Swail and Heather Moody have each posted a pair of field
\nblocks.<\/p>\n
The Team USA women are getting it from everywhere up and down the roster,
\nwith two games to go. Coach Baker has often called Australia the most
\nbalanced team in the tournament. If coach is looking for balance, he might
\ntake a peek closer to home\u2026<\/p>\n
American Beauty:
\nSure, there\u2019s some physicality involved with women\u2019s water polo. It\u2019s the
\nvery nature of the sport. But while some contact is inevitable, coach Baker
\nspoke about the intricacies of the game in a press conference yesterday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always going to be some physicality,\u201d said Baker. \u201cBut there is
\nmuch more to this game than contact. There\u2019s ball handling, passing,
\nshooting\u2026and the conditioning necessary to excel in this sport. Our athletes
\nare the best conditioned athletes in these Olympic Games. No other athletes do what ours do\u2026they\u2019re the perfect combination of strength, skill, and grace. There\u2019s so much beauty about the game, so much more than the physical stuff you see above the water\u2026it\u2019s a beautiful game, and that\u2019s why we love it so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Enough said, coach.<\/p>\n
One Down\u2026:
\nWell, technically it\u2019s five down. But who\u2019s counting?<\/p>\n
The U.S. women\u2019s water polo team actually had designated getting past the preliminary round as goal No. 1. The next goal? Bring home some hardware.<\/p>\n
After getting through this week\u2019s preliminary round with a record of 3-1-1, the U.S. will move on to face the Netherlands in tomorrow\u2019s semifinals and, if all goes well, Australia in the gold medal game on Saturday (Sept. 23).<\/p>\n
So how has the U.S. fared against these two teams in recent history? Back in July, USA defeated both teams in the Holiday Cup in Los Alamitos, Calif., at the U.S. Water Polo National Aquatic Center. Coach Baker and company first knocked off the Netherlands, 11-9, then moved on to douse Australia, 8-7, en route to the tournament cup.<\/p>\n
This week, the U.S. opened up Olympic play by defeating Holland, 6-4, but later lost to Australia, 7-6. Coach Baker\u2019s thoughts?<\/p>\n
\u201cHolland has tremendous offensive weapons,\u201d he said. \u201cThey also have great speed and size and are probably the most experienced team in this tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n
And the Aussies?<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralia is probably the most balanced and talented team,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have been the most consistent, and they are going to be a tough game for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stay tuned.<\/p>\n
Time to Relax:
\nThe U.S. women\u2019s water polo team took the afternoon off after a light practice this afternoon (Sept. 21) in preparation for its game tomorrow with Holland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Eric Velazquez Baker\u2019s Dozen Putting the \u201cTeam\u201d into Team USA: A team full of stories\u2026the touching return of Maureen O\u2019Toole to the pool to pursue her Olympic dream\u2026Brenda Villa\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[105,3696,2125,176,881,185,2110,7685,5790,2122,1499,2112,6616,7501,5982,2124,124,2119,237,102,1335,2113,147,6669,62],"class_list":["post-1812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zzzzzzzzz","tag-australia","tag-bernie-orwig","tag-brenda-villa","tag-california","tag-canada","tag-coach","tag-coralie-simmons","tag-eric-velazquez-baker","tag-ericka-lorenz","tag-heather-moody","tag-injury","tag-julie-swail","tag-karla-plugge","tag-last-ditch-qualifier","tag-los-alamitos","tag-maureen-otoole","tag-netherlands","tag-nicolle-payne","tag-olympic-games","tag-olympics","tag-polo","tag-robin-beauregard","tag-russia","tag-u-s-water-polo-national-aquatic-center","tag-united-states"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n