This past weekend, May 3-4, the Augustana women’s water polo team competed in the USA Water Polo Division-III National Tournament, which was hosted at home in the Anne Greve Lund Natatorium. As the number three seed in the tournament, the Vikings were matched up against the number two seed, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas.
Hoping to use their momentum from winning the CWPA conference tournament, which was also hosted at home, the Vikings looked forward to the challenge, but the team fell to Claremont, 14-5. In the national third-place game, Augustana faced off against the Washington and Jefferson College Presidents, a CWPA conference championship match rematch. Ultimately, the Vikings defeated the Presidents 13-12 in a match that went to sudden-death overtime after the first two overtime periods, securing the third-place finish.
Going into the semifinal matchup against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, the Vikings were making their fourth appearance in the national tournament in just four years of the program’s existence. It was also the third straight year they faced off against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the semifinals, losing the previous two matchups. With the weight of past defeats and the familiarity of their opponent, players on the team, such as sophomore Waiahuli Akau, embraced their growing experience to approach this matchup with renewed confidence.
“Last year, going in as a freshman, I was very nervous, but now that we have it at home, I think that gives us a little advantage, in a sense,” Akau said. “Our captains have been here since the program started, and they know what it’s like to have that pressure on you a lot. Some of the advice they gave me and the other First-Years, like Emma [Blezien], was to always remember who you’re playing for and trust your teammates.”
With Claremont being a perennial team in the top two in the national rankings all year, the Vikings needed to play with precision if they wanted to knock off the Athenas to go to the national championship game. Senior captain Charlotte Newport knew going in what type of team Claremont was and what they needed to do to compete.
“This will be the third time we’re playing them in the opening round of nationals, so we know how they play,” Newport said. “They’re gonna run a hard press, and they’re a fast team. They’re a smart team, so they’re gonna be looking to capitalize on our mistakes. We just really need to minimize those mistakes, and that comes from making sure that we’re doing everything at a really high level.”
In the opening frame, the Athenas struck first with two goals, but a goal from sophomore Waiahuli Akau cut the Athenas’ lead in half. Entering the second frame, Claremont outscored the Vikings 7-2 to extend their lead to 9-3 at halftime. The second half of the game did not fare any better for the Vikings, as they fell 14-5, ending their hopes of a national championship this season.
Heading into the national third-place game, the Vikings were pitted against Washington and Jefferson yet again, the team they’d beaten to win the CWPA championship. The Presidents started strong by scoring the game’s first goal, but Augustana quickly tied things up, which set the tone for a close match.
In the second quarter, the Vikings outscored the Presidents 5-3 to take the lead going into halftime. Despite trailing for most of the second half, Washington and Jefferson fought back and scored three straight goals in the fourth frame to tie the game at eight before First-Year Anais Jones netted a goal with 1:17 left. With little time left, the Presidents netted a goal with only five seconds left to force overtime.
“Going into overtime, our coaches both just told us that we had to push the tempo because we felt like we had slowed down a bit in the fourth quarter,” Newport said. “They told us to keep up a hard press and to push the counterattack every possession.”
In overtime, both teams traded goals in the two three-minute periods, sending the game to sudden-death overtime. In sudden death, Newport scored the game-winning goal, sending the Anne Greve Lund Natatorium into a frenzy and sealing the 13-12 win and the third straight third-place finish in the national tournament.
The win wraps up the collegiate careers of the senior class that bought into a program when it was nothing but a coaching staff and a dream and became a perennial team in the national tournament in just four years. Despite losing in the semifinals, ending with a win in the third-place game was a great way for the Vikings’ seniors, such as Lizzie Pelzman, to close this chapter of their collegiate career, especially at home.
“It feels so great to be at home with such close family and friends, and to be able to reflect on the journey at the pool where it all started is very sentimental,” Pelzman said. “I am so grateful for this experience, and to be with all my teammates, even those who weren’t on the roster, was an amazing feeling. Truly, no other experience can match this!”
