CMS Women's Water Polo Picked Fourth in Preseason SCIAC Poll
CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's water polo team was picked to finish fourth in the SCIAC in a preseason vote of the conference's coaches, the league office announced today.
The defending league champion Cal Lutheran Regals were picked first, followed by Pomona-Pitzer in second and Whittier in third, with CMS close behind in fourth place.
The Athenas enter the new year optimistic that they can exceed those expectations, due to the return of the team's top seven scorers and all three goalies from a year ago. CMS also boasts an 11-member sophomore class that the program hopes can be the backbone of a strong three-year run as conference contenders.
The senior class consists of only two members, as the Athenas will be on the young side, but Aracelia Aldrete and Celeste Cerna have exceptional leadership qualities to help CMS overcome its relative youth. Aldrete is an All-SCIAC attacker, who scored 25 goals last season and has over 100 in her three-year career, while Cerna is a versatile weapon who can play multiple positions.
The junior class is also quite strong, led by second-team All-America defender Amelia Ayala, who finished first on CMS in scoring last year with 32 goals and 13 assists. Chandlyr Denaro, who began her career as a goalie, emerged as a strong scorer from the center position last year with 20 goals, while Anna Fry was also a key member of the CMS starting defense, finishing the season with 14 goals and 21 steals. Katharine Larsen is also re-joining the team this year after missing last season, and adds a lefty attacker to the CMS offensive arsenal.
The sophomore class had a big impact last year in their rookie seasons, and with another year of training under its belt, the group is poised to help bring the program to a higher level this spring. Offensively, Alex Szymczak had 28 goals last year to rank second on the Athenas, while Addi Duvall led the team in assists with 15. Emily McElroy tallied 11 goals and six assists while alternating with Denaro at the center position, while Maddy Menard added seven goals and eight assists.
Ayla Huhn and Jenna Polidoro also are returning for the Athenas and looking to build off their first seasons, while the Athenas add two new sophomores as well in defender Natalie Clark, a former standout at Polytechnic High School in Pasadena, and Emma Brezoczky, a transfer from the University of Toronto who will be a utility player with the Athenas.
All three CMS goalies are also sophomores, with Jessica Salaz the returning starter after a strong first-year campaign last spring, tallying a 9.20 goals against average. Ruth Efe also saw significant action last year in a reserve role and had solid numbers of a .531 save percentage and a 5.85 goals against average, while Veronica Show earned some playing time in the cage as well and had a .500 save percentage and a 6.29 goals against average.
A strong Class of 2023 also joins the program with three new first-years adding to the team's impressive depth. Christina Kulick was high school teammates with Brezoczky at Los Gatos in the Bay Area, while Jessi Beyer (Park City High School in Utah), Isabel Dhillon (Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton) and Mihika Desouza (Berkeley High School) will also be trying to have immediate impacts in their first collegiate campaigns.
CMS gets its season started in January when it travels to Providence, Rhode Island to play in the three-day Bruno Classic, hosted by Brown University. The Athenas open on Friday, Jan. 31 against Austin College, and then face Division I foes Marist, Brown and Bucknell on Feb. 1-2.