Friday, April 3, 1998
WHO says first-year teams can't be successful?
In its first season at the varsity level, the University of Hawaii women's water polo team is sixth in the nation among 40 NCAA varsity and club teams. The Wahine have won 20 of 24 games overall and are 4-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
That's a pretty quick trip to success, but head coach Shari Baird-Smart said she isn't surprised.
Baird-Smart credits the university for having the foresight to hire her in January 1997, which gave her the time she needed to recruit quality players.
She also is satisfied that her hard work has paid off.
"I expected (the rankings)," she said. "I worked my butt off in the off-season to make sure we'd have the type of players that could be competitive."
Baird-Smart, who coached the Oahu Club water polo team and Kaiser High School's co-ed squad before taking the UH job, said she set out to find a top-notch goalie, a strong whole-set and at least one dominating utility player.
Goalie Lila Fraser, whole-set Karin Umemura and utility players Michelle Wong and Marie-Luc Arpin have fit the plan nicely.
Fraser, a junior, is a two-time Canadian league and junior world championship all-star from Carleton University in Ontario.
In 23 games, she has made 140 saves, posting a career-high 14 against nationally ranked Southern California in a 5-4 victory on Valentine's Day. She has even scored two goals.
"This team has a lot of different levels of abilities," Fraser said, "but I think we've done a good job with what we have. We're consistently getting better."
Like Fraser, Arpin, a freshman, played on the junior national team in Canada. But because of her pump-fake and shooting abilities, she has taken her career a step further.
Last summer, Arpin represented Canada in the World Championships in Australia. She said she also hopes to represent Canada in the next Olympics.
Arpin leads the team in scoring with 69 goals in 24 games.
"I'm really pleased with our ranking," Arpin said. "I didn't really know what to expect because I didn't know any of the other teams. So far, I'm really satisfied because we're playing so well."
"She (Arpin) is a very experienced player," Baird-Smart said. "She's our go-to player. And just her attitude and work ethic is phenomenal. She's unbelievable."
Wong, a junior from Roosevelt High School, has 23 goals, and Umemura, a junior from Canada, 39 goals.
The players, too, said they aren't surprised at the team's early success.
"From what I had heard about the California league from friends who had played in it or played against those teams, I did (expect it)," Fraser said.
"At first, looking at our team, I knew we would be ranked," Wong said, "but (we) didn't see ourselves being ranked that high.
"We're still trying to jell together as a team. But having this kind of team and the talent that each individual has helps our team to grow."
Baird-Smart said having a good team in the first year of varsity play will make it easier to recruit quality players next season.
"It's going to be easier now to say, 'Hey, look what we have, look what were doing. We're a brand new team and we're sixth-ranked currently,'" she said. "We have common goals. We want to succeed and qualify for the nationals."
On the way to that goal is this weekend's regular-season closer -- the Aloha Classic at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex. The field includes No. 2 Stanford, No. 9 UC-Davis and No. 13 San Jose State.
The Wahine defeated UC-Davis, 11-4, Wednesday. They also defeated San Jose State earlier this season (14-8). But Baird-Smart isn't writing off the Spartans, UH's opponent today.
"They're a young team (second year) and they're not quite at our level yet," she said. "But we can't look past them," she said. "That's our lead game and it counts in our standings."
Playing Stanford, however, is a different story, she said.
"They're very tough. And they have a strong tradition. They have established players who are smart, too, very well-rounded and versatile. It should be one of the closest games we're going to play."
Aloha Classic
What NCAA women's water polo
