University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Water Polo Ranked 19th in Preseason Poll
January 28, 2002 | Women's Polo
Jan. 28, 2002
AMHERST, Mass. -- The University of Massachusetts women's water polo team has been ranked 19th in the National Collegiate poll as announced this morning. The Minutewomen finished last season with a 17-10 overall record and a No. 19 national ranking.
"Our goal this season is to win the Eastern Championship and return to the NCAA Tournament," said head coach Donna Heinel. "We lost only one senior starter and have a great group of incoming freshman. The team is hungry for competition and we will look to the upcoming Stanford Invitational as a starting point for the year."
The Minutewomen return six of seven starters from last year's squad that went undefeated in regular-season conference play, including CWPA All-Northern Division first-team selections juniors Kelly Chassy (Morgan Hill, Calif.) and Mattie Newell (Dillsburg, Pa.). Chassy was the Minutewomen's leading scorer last season with 63 points (45 goals, 18 assists), while Newell led the sqaud with 44 ejections drawn and 11 penalty shots drawn.
UMass opens the season Feb. 9-10 at the Stanford Invitational where they will face at least three of the nation's top five teams, including defending national champion and current No. 1 UCLA, as well as No. 4 California and No. 5 San Jose St. in pool play before playing another top-ranked team in the championship round.
The Minutewomen were also picked to finish sixth in the CWPA's preseason poll. Ahead of them in order are Michigan, Princeton, Brown, Hartwick and Indiana.
