Water Polo club finishes second

After three convincing wins propelled them into the first-place game at this past weekend's Mid-Atlantic Club Championship, the Penn men's water polo club dropped a heartbreaker to Villanova in the finals, 8-6, at Sheerr Pool on Sunday. That loss meant that Penn took second place in the tournament and that Villanova earned a spot in club nationals. "We've had a big rivalry with Villanova," Penn senior and men's water polo coach Elizabeth Greig said. "They dropped from varsity a few years ago and have just missed getting to nationals, so they were pretty fired up going in." The tournament at Penn marked the end of the Red and Blue's season. They play what coach Greig termed a "very dense" season, participating in about 20 matches in roughly two months. The loss to 'Nova also sounded a death knell for the careers of Penn's seniors. "We have about 20 players and a lot of depth," Greig said. "The seniors that played their last game definitely deserved to come away with a title." Penn got off to a blistering start on Saturday. In their first game, the Red and Blue bested Widener, 16-2, following that up with a 25-9 demolishing of Indiana University of Pennsylvania. On Sunday, the Quakers got the better of another in-state rival by defeating Penn State, 11-7. That set the stage for the showdown with the Wildcats. It was a back-and-forth affair with an uncertain outcome throughout. Penn was in the lead after the first quarter, but 'Nova kept an edge down the stretch. "With 45 seconds left, we still thought that we could pull it out," Greig said. Drew Evans and Donald Kwon led the scoring for Penn, with two goals apiece against Villanova. The water polo club gets many of its talented players from California, but also manages to find local players with experience in the sport. Penn also has a women's club, which competes in the spring. -- Will Ulrich