ERIE, Pa. – Fresh off last Saturday's Division II Eastern Championship, the Gannon women's water polo team heads to the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Eastern Championship this weekend at the University of Michigan. The Lady Knights open the three-day event Friday, April 26 against NCAA Division I George Washington at 11:20 a.m.
The CWPA Eastern Championship is water polo's equivalent to an NCAA regional tournament in other sports, but includes Division I and II programs. The event is loaded with eight NCAA Division I clubs and four nationally-ranked teams. This weekend's champion will move into the NCAA Elite Eight.
The top four seeds are listed in the national rankings - Indiana University (15th), Princeton University (11th), Hartwick College (17th) and the University of Michigan (18th). The top 10 seeds are all listed in the latest CWPA Division I/II poll.
Friday's schedule begins with eighth-seed Bucknell against ninth-seed Mercyhurst at 10 a.m. Seventh-seed George Washington and 10th-seed Gannon follows at 11:20 a.m. The next two matches feature sixth-seed Harvard versus 11th-seed Notre Dame (Ohio) and fifth-seed Brown against 12th-seed Connecticut College. Indiana, Princeton, Hartwick and Michigan will play the winners of the first four matches later that day.
Saturday's match-ups will be determined based on Friday's action. Matches to determine all final places will be conducted Sunday.
Gannon, ranked ninth in the latest CWPA Division I/II Poll, improved to 12-14 overall after winning the 2013 Division II Eastern Championship last Saturday with victories against Notre Dame (Ohio) (10-6) and Mercyhurst (10-9). The Lady Knights have never been defeated in the Division II Eastern Championships, winning the event in 2004 and 2005 before it was discontinued until this season.
Katelyn Jacobs (Brookfield, Ill./Lyons Township) leads Gannon in goals (53) and assists (48). The junior also has 44 steals and 23 earned kick-outs.
Janelle McDaniels (Edwardsville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) and
Bailey Gadd (Golden, Colo./Lakewood) are close behind with 43 and 41 goals, respectively. McDaniels tops the Lady Knights with 48 steals.
Janelle Bartman (Darien, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) has played every minute in goal, producing a 10.50 goals against average and a .426 save percentage.
Gannon and George Washington haven't met since February 21, 2010 at the Princeton Tournament. The Lady Knights finished 11th at last year's CWPA Eastern Championship with a 2-2 record. After opening the 2012 event with a pair of losses, the squad fought back to finish 11th with victories against Salem International and Notre Dame (Ohio).
