CWPA Reverts Back to Original Schedule for Southern Championships at Bucknell - BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

CWPA Reverts Back to Original Schedule for Southern Championships at Bucknell

Collegiate Water Polo Association Adjusts Weekend Schedule Again

Julianne Valdes

April 12, 2012

Live Video Broadcast of Bucknell Games (Bison Vision - $9.95) video camera

Live Video Broadcast of Southern Championships ($39.95 for a tournament subscription/$19.95 for a single game) video camera

Southern Championships Schedule/Results

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Just days after making major adjustments to this weekend's women's water polo Southern Championships schedule, the Collegiate Water Polo Association has reverted back to the original schedule of games. The Southern Championships will be held at Bucknell's Kinney Natatorium. Six games will be played on Saturday and three on Sunday, with the title game slated for 12 p.m. that afternoon.

Bucknell's first games at the Southern Championships will now be at 3 p.m. Saturday against George Washington. The Bison will then take on top-seeded Princeton at 7 p.m. Depending on where it finishes in its three-team bracket, Bucknell will play at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m. or 12 p.m. on Sunday.

All Bucknell games over the weekend will air live on Bison Vision, via www.BucknellBison.com. Fans who are not already subscribers to Bison Vision can sign up for a month subscription for $9.95. All Bucknell games will feature a multi-camera setup with audio commentary, as is customary for Bison Vision events.

Additionally, fans can sign up to watch all seven games of the Southern Championships via Everest Youth Sports (www.eysports.com). A subscription that will cover the entire weekend is $39.95, while a single-game subscription is $19.95. The Bucknell games will also be streamed live via www.eysports.com. The non-Bucknell broadcasts are expected to feature a multi-camera setup and no audio commentary.

Princeton, Harvard, Brown, George Washington, Mercyhurst and Bucknell will make up the six-team field this weekend. The Bison bring a 13-19 record into the weekend and they are seeded fourth.

Bucknell Women's Water Polo Notebook (13-19, 2-3 CWPA)
• Bucknell has won three of its last four games, marking its best four-game stretch since winning five in a row in late February/early March.

• Bucknell is averaging nearly 15 goals per game over its last three victories. Overall, the Bison are averaging 12.6 goals per game in wins and 7.0 goals per game in losses.

• Princeton, which is ranked 14th nationally this week, is the only ranked team that will be in action in Kinney Natatorium this weekend. Bucknell has faced 11 ranked opponents this year. Its last win over a ranked foe came Feb. 25 against then-No. 20 Iona.

• Bucknell first-year head coach John McBride enters the weekend tied for third on the Bison all-time wins list. He trails only John Zeigler (139 wins) and John Abdou (61) on the list.

• Freshman Taylor Barnett earned a pair of awards this past week. The Houston, Texas, native was named both the Susquehanna Valley Limousine Bison Athlete of the Week and the CWPA Southern Division Rookie of the Week after equaling a program record with seven goals last Saturday vs. George Washington. The team's leading scorer with 56 goals this season, Barnett also drew a season-high seven ejections in that contest, the most by a Bison since April of 2009. Barnett has posted six consecutive multi-goal outings and has 18 overall on the year.

• Sophomore Julianne Valdes also etched her named into the Bucknell record books last weekend against George Washington when she dished out a career-high-tying six assists. That figure tied the Bison single-game record, which she had also reached last April against Gannon. Valdes is second on the team with 37 assists, just one shy of her freshman-year total.

• Hallie Kennan, Becca Shopiro and Valdes remain the only Bison to have started all 32 games this season.

• Bucknell is three goals away from becoming the fifth team in program history to score 300 goals in a season. Only the 2001, 2008, 2009 and 2011 teams have reached that plateau. The 2008 squad holds the school record with 389 goals.

• Kennan has posted multi-goal outings in six of her last seven contests and has 13 on the year. She has registered at least one point in 30 of 32 games this season, including a season-high seven (3g, 4a) in a win over Mercyhurst on March 24.

• Kennan (88 points) and Valdes (84 points) are both within reach of 100 points this season. If they both reach that mark, it will be the third time in program history teammates have scored 100 points in the same season, joining Meagan Gins and Kandis Canonica in 2008 and Aubrey Rowe and Kandis Canonica in 2009.

• Rena Heim enters this weekend with 11 double-figure save performances this year. Her 233 saves rank eighth on the program's single-season ledger.

• Valdes has won 60 of 74 sprints this year. She has not lost a sprint since going 3-for-4 vs. UC San Diego (March 18) and has captured 30 of 31 over the last nine games.

Bucknell's Weekly Awards in 2012
CWPA Southern Division Player of the Week
- Julianne Valdes (Feb. 27)
CWPA Southern Division Rookie of the Week
- Taylor Barnett (April 9)
Susquehanna Valley Limousine Bison Athlete of the Week
- Taylor Barnett (April 9)

Bison on Season Record Lists
Taylor Barnett: Ejections Drawn (5th, 70)
Rena Heim: Saves (8th, 233)
Hallie Kennan: Assists (9th, 44)
Julianne Valdes: Sprints (3rd, 60), Sprint % (1st, .811)

Bison on Career Record Lists
Brittany Connell: Saves (7th, 219)
Rena Heim: Saves (5th, 356)
Hallie Kennan: Points (5th, 283), Goals (6th, 170), Assists (6th, 113), Shots (5th, 444), Games Played (11th, 125)
Tara Murao: Ejections Drawn (t-7th, 90)
Stephanie Ovalle: Sprints (8th, 40)
Amanda Skonezney: Sprints (1st, 149), Games Started (10th, 101)
Julianne Valdes: Sprints (4th, 60)

Bucknell vs. Weekend Opponents
• Bucknell vs. Princeton: 5-31 (Princeton has a three-game winning streak; three of last five meetings have been decided by two goals or less.)
• Bucknell vs. George Washington: 29-15 (Bison have won four in a row, including all three meetings this year.)
• Bucknell vs. Harvard: 8-10 (Harvard has captured all three meetings the last two years, including one last year at Eastern Championship.)
• Bucknell vs. Brown: 5-12 (Teams have split last four meetings.)
• Bucknell vs. Mercyhurst: 5-1 (Bucknell has won two meetings this year by combined 23-10 margin.)

Up Next
• Bucknell will head to the Eastern Championship in two weeks (April 27-29). The three-day event will be hosted by Brown. The winner of the 13-team tournament receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.

Bracket A
1st Seed - Princeton
4th Seed - Bucknell
5th Seed - George Washington

Bracket B
2nd Seed - Harvard
3rd Seed - Brown
6th Seed - Mercyhurst

Saturday, April 14
Game 1 -- Princeton vs. George Washington, 10 a.m.
Game 2 -- Harvard vs. Mercyhurst, 11:30 a.m.
Game 3 -- Bucknell vs. George Washington, 3 p.m.
Game 4 -- Brown vs. Mercyhurst, 4:30 p.m.
Game 5 -- Bucknell vs. Princeton, 7 p.m.
Game 6 -- Harvard vs. Brown, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, April 15
Game 7 (5th Place) -- 3rd in Bracket A vs. 3rd in Bracket B, 9 a.m.
Game 8 (3rd Place) -- 2nd in Bracket B vs. 2nd in Bracket A, 10:30 a.m.
Game 9 (1st Place) -- 1st in Bracket A vs. 1st in Bracket B, 12 p.m.