Women’s club water polo heading to nationals for the first time in nine years
Yi Chen
The Women’s Club Water Polo Team’s Championship Tournament was held this past weekend at the Zesiger Center. The MIT team beat their crosstown rival Wellesley College to win the championship.
On Saturday, April 8, MIT played University of New England and beat them 18–4. Next, they took on Tufts University and won 9–2.
On Sunday, MIT played the top seeded, undefeated Wellesley College. The two teams were tied at 5–5 going into the final quarter. Drawing on strong defense and a couple of key crosscage shots from Cecilia Viggiano G, MIT won the game 8–7.
MIT is a part of the North Atlantic Division of the Collegiate Water Polo Association, and has finished in third place in the division for the last two years. They have not made nationals since 2007, when they defeated Boston College in order to win the conference.
The MIT team is led by returning coaches Andres Simauchi and assistant Corissa Lee. Captained by Sofi Peterson G and Leilani Gilpin G, the team returned with several key players in Sarah Fay G, Viggiano, Hayley Bergman ’19, Clare Wieland ’19, goalie Vivian Zhang ’19, and Maddie Severance ’17. The team also benefits from new talent Alex Obrand ’20.
Catch the team at the National Collegiate Club Championships in Pittsburgh May 5–7!
Yida Wang is a member of the class of 2019.
Team members Hayley Bergman and Clare Wieland assisted in reporting for this article.