Photo by: Andrew Shortall
Lancers Prepare for Another Challenging Schedule
12/5/2018 11:45:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Last season, California Baptist University took on its toughest schedule ever and the Lancers are looking to up that in 2019.
CBU faced just 10 non-NCAA Division I teams last year and only have nine Division II or III teams currently scheduled for 2019. It is far below the program's season average of 14.8 D II-III teams faced over its first 17 seasons.
The Lancers will also be playing 18 games against teams who received votes in the NCAA's final 2018 rankings last season, including five top-10 teams. CBU finished last year ranked 25th in the NCAA with a 17-17 record and fifth-place finish at the Golden Coast Conference.
"We are approaching our schedule the same as we did last year. We believe playing top-10 teams early in the season will prepare us for conference at the end of the year," Coach Jon Miller said. "Our conference is very competitive, and we know those tough early games prepare you for the final stretch. We saw that last year, we were playing our best polo at the end of March and April. It's a competitive schedule but we think it helps you in the long run."
This year, CBU will participate in seven tournaments this year under Miller, who is entering his sixth season with the Lancers.
For the fourth year in a row, the Lancers' season opens at the UC Santa Barbara Winter Invite on January 18-19. The first official game of the year is against the host Gauchos, who ended 2018 ranked 18th, on Jan. 18 at 11 a.m. CBU's daunting first week will continue against defending national champion USC, No. 19 CSUN and No. 4 UCLA in Santa Barbara.
The Lancers will make their home opener when they host the CBU Mini on Jan. 26. They will first welcome the defending Big West Conference champions, UC Irvine, at 11:30 a.m. The Anteaters reached the NCAA Tournament quarterfinalist last year and ended 2018 ranked eighth in the country. CBU will also play Claremont-Mudd-Scripps the same day (7 p.m.).
Tournament action continues for CBU at the Arizona State Invite (Feb. 2-3) and the Redlands Round Robin (Feb. 13). In Arizona, the Lancers get a second game with No. 18 UCSB and will also play Iona, Cal State Monterey Bay and the host Arizona State, which ended 2018 ranked fifth in the NCAA. CBU will then get a rematch with 19th-ranked CSUN and then host Redlands in the Round Robin on Feb. 13.
A one-day break will lead into CBU's one home game in February, as it will host the two-time defending national champions of Canada, the University of Toronto, for an exhibition on Feb. 15. The Lancers will wrap up the month at Cal Lutheran's Tina Finali Invite (Feb. 22-23) where they will face La Verne, Sonoma State and Fresno Pacific.
In March, the Lancers will compete in the Harvard Invite (March 2-3) for the very first time in Cambridge, Mass. CBU will face Harvard, 24th-ranked Brown, No. 11 Princeton and Gannon over the two-day tournament.
"I think we have a really good balance with our schedule this year, we are excited to go to Harvard for the first time," Miller said. "It's nice to play a lot of games where we get to play a variety of lineups and teams."
CBU will make its Golden Coast Conference opener against Santa Clara at the Lancer Aquatics Center on March 8. It starts five-plus straight home games, as CBU will host the Lancer Joust on March 9 and San Diego State for another conference contest on March 23. The Lancers' homestand will end with a doubleheader versus No. 24 Brown and No. 16 UC San Diego on March 30.
It is all GCC play from there on out, with road trips to conference foes Pacific and Fresno State on April 5 and 6, respectively. It will be a nice sneak peek at the GCC Championships, as Fresno State will host the conference tournament at the end of April. The Tigers have won the last two Golden Coast Conference championships and ended last season ranked sixth in the NCAA, while the Bulldogs took sixth in their debut season in the conference.
The Lancers' final two home games come against Concordia and Loyola Marymount on April 11 and 13, respectively. The Lions finished runner-up in the GCC and ranked 17th in the NCAA in 2018. The regular season then comes to a close with a short trip to Azusa Pacific on April 18.
The Golden Coast Conference Championships take place April 26-28 at Fresno State, with the tournament champion earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships.
"We like the breakdown of the conference schedule because we get to be at home for a long stretch of March and April," Miller said. "It is nice to play in the pool where conference championships are going to be earlier because you can familiarize yourself with it a bit. We know every game in conference is tough, whether you're home or away."
CBU faced just 10 non-NCAA Division I teams last year and only have nine Division II or III teams currently scheduled for 2019. It is far below the program's season average of 14.8 D II-III teams faced over its first 17 seasons.
The Lancers will also be playing 18 games against teams who received votes in the NCAA's final 2018 rankings last season, including five top-10 teams. CBU finished last year ranked 25th in the NCAA with a 17-17 record and fifth-place finish at the Golden Coast Conference.
"We are approaching our schedule the same as we did last year. We believe playing top-10 teams early in the season will prepare us for conference at the end of the year," Coach Jon Miller said. "Our conference is very competitive, and we know those tough early games prepare you for the final stretch. We saw that last year, we were playing our best polo at the end of March and April. It's a competitive schedule but we think it helps you in the long run."
This year, CBU will participate in seven tournaments this year under Miller, who is entering his sixth season with the Lancers.
For the fourth year in a row, the Lancers' season opens at the UC Santa Barbara Winter Invite on January 18-19. The first official game of the year is against the host Gauchos, who ended 2018 ranked 18th, on Jan. 18 at 11 a.m. CBU's daunting first week will continue against defending national champion USC, No. 19 CSUN and No. 4 UCLA in Santa Barbara.
The Lancers will make their home opener when they host the CBU Mini on Jan. 26. They will first welcome the defending Big West Conference champions, UC Irvine, at 11:30 a.m. The Anteaters reached the NCAA Tournament quarterfinalist last year and ended 2018 ranked eighth in the country. CBU will also play Claremont-Mudd-Scripps the same day (7 p.m.).
Tournament action continues for CBU at the Arizona State Invite (Feb. 2-3) and the Redlands Round Robin (Feb. 13). In Arizona, the Lancers get a second game with No. 18 UCSB and will also play Iona, Cal State Monterey Bay and the host Arizona State, which ended 2018 ranked fifth in the NCAA. CBU will then get a rematch with 19th-ranked CSUN and then host Redlands in the Round Robin on Feb. 13.
A one-day break will lead into CBU's one home game in February, as it will host the two-time defending national champions of Canada, the University of Toronto, for an exhibition on Feb. 15. The Lancers will wrap up the month at Cal Lutheran's Tina Finali Invite (Feb. 22-23) where they will face La Verne, Sonoma State and Fresno Pacific.
In March, the Lancers will compete in the Harvard Invite (March 2-3) for the very first time in Cambridge, Mass. CBU will face Harvard, 24th-ranked Brown, No. 11 Princeton and Gannon over the two-day tournament.
"I think we have a really good balance with our schedule this year, we are excited to go to Harvard for the first time," Miller said. "It's nice to play a lot of games where we get to play a variety of lineups and teams."
CBU will make its Golden Coast Conference opener against Santa Clara at the Lancer Aquatics Center on March 8. It starts five-plus straight home games, as CBU will host the Lancer Joust on March 9 and San Diego State for another conference contest on March 23. The Lancers' homestand will end with a doubleheader versus No. 24 Brown and No. 16 UC San Diego on March 30.
It is all GCC play from there on out, with road trips to conference foes Pacific and Fresno State on April 5 and 6, respectively. It will be a nice sneak peek at the GCC Championships, as Fresno State will host the conference tournament at the end of April. The Tigers have won the last two Golden Coast Conference championships and ended last season ranked sixth in the NCAA, while the Bulldogs took sixth in their debut season in the conference.
The Lancers' final two home games come against Concordia and Loyola Marymount on April 11 and 13, respectively. The Lions finished runner-up in the GCC and ranked 17th in the NCAA in 2018. The regular season then comes to a close with a short trip to Azusa Pacific on April 18.
The Golden Coast Conference Championships take place April 26-28 at Fresno State, with the tournament champion earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships.
"We like the breakdown of the conference schedule because we get to be at home for a long stretch of March and April," Miller said. "It is nice to play in the pool where conference championships are going to be earlier because you can familiarize yourself with it a bit. We know every game in conference is tough, whether you're home or away."
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