What’s better than a Fab Five? A Sensational Six, of course.
The University of Hawaii water polo team will host No. 1 USC in its first home game of the season tonight at 6. The women will do so with one of the youngest starting lineups in the country.
RAINBOW WAHINE WATER POLO
At Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex
>> Who: No. 1 USC (17-0) vs. No. 4 Hawaii (13-4)
>> When: Today, 6 p.m.
>> Series: USC leads 37-3. USC and UH last met in the first round of last year’s NCAA Championships with the Trojans winning 14-7.
The UH roster features six standout freshman, five of whom are already starters. Making up the class of newcomers are local product Julie Hedden, a goalie from Kaiser, attacker Hannah Thompson of California, Australian utility Julia Barton, Femke Aan from the Netherlands and Carla Abellan and Irene Gonzalez, both attackers from Spain.
USC comes into the match at 17-0 and while the task of trying to defeat the nation’s only unbeaten team may be daunting, the Rainbow Wahine (13-4) believe they may have just the group to get the job done.
“In my five years this is the most complete group I’ve ever recruited,” said head coach Maureen Cole. “We have a goalie, a center, a lefty, utility, an attacker. Every position is covered. It’s a big core to come in. For me in my five years this is definitely the most complete group.”
PROFILES
Julie Hedden
>> Hometown: Hawaii Kai
>> Previous school: Kaiser
>> Major: Business
Julia Barton
>> Hometown: Redhead, New South Wales, Australia
>> Previous school: Merewether High School
>> Major: Kinesiology
Femke Aan
>> Hometown: Oostzaan, North Holland, Netherlands
>> Previous school: Zaanlands Lyceum
>> Major: Pre Med
Irene Gonzalez
>> Hometown: Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
>> Previous school: IES Car Sant Cugat
>> Major: Kinesiology
Carla Abellan
>> Hometown: Sabadell, Catalonia, Spain
>> Previous school: IES Car Sant Cugat
>> Major: Nutrition
Hannah Thompson
>> Hometown: Corona, Calif.
>> Previous school: Norco High
>> Major: General Arts and Science
The incoming freshmen had their work cut out for them upon joining the program. Four starters from last year’s Big West championship team are sitting out this season, creating larger roles for the first-year players.
The big roles have created big results. Of UH’s 177 goals, 115 have been scored by freshmen. Gonzalez leads UH with 38 goals, followed closely by Aan with 36.
They have already played in some high profile games. Hawaii swept No. 8 Cal with 10-9 and 7-6 victories. The Wahine also edged No. 6 Michigan 11-10. All three wins proved significant, allowing the Wahine to reach their current peak as the fourth-ranked team in the Collegiate Water Polo Association poll.
Most recently, the ‘Bows faced stiff competition in No. 3 Stanford and No. 2 UCLA. They fell 10-6 to UCLA and 13-7 to Stanford on Feb. 28 in the UC Irvine Invitational.
“We felt good beating Cal; they’re a storied program,” said associate coach Ryan Castle, who ran the team while Cole was on maternity leave early in the season. “Once we start chipping at the USCs, the UCLAs and the Stanfords and getting that under our belt then that’s the next step.”
Perhaps the toughest obstacle for UH is that it has already played 17 road games before their home opener tonight. They played in the UC Santa Barbara tournament, the Brown Invitational and UC Irvine Invitational before getting to play in Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex to open a five-match homestand.
“Our coaches always say that USC is the hardest test … they’re really strong and stuff but we don’t know them so we’re not afraid of them,” Gonzalez said. “First time we played Cal we weren’t afraid of them. We’re not afraid of anyone, so we can just go out and play our own game.”
