Off the deep end: Inside the W. Club Water Polo team

Four times a week, a group of 21 hard-working and largely anonymous young women dive into Scheerr Pool to train for a grueling two hours of weekend water wars.

In a sport that barely makes headwaves on a campus, the Penn women's club water polo team is a squad that should garner anything but indifference.

Get a Penn student in the pool with these Quakers, and they would be hard-pressed to keep up with the pace of the action.

The Red and Blue engage themselves in a sport that closely resembles a soccer game, but proves to be even more difficult, as it takes place in the depths of the pool.

At the sound of a whistle, a relatively calm pool becomes a sea of thrashing and splashing as the players race to retrieve a ball and eventually ram it into a small net.

The physical activity of water polo is intense, as the players have to support themselves in the water with only their legs as they make their way across the pool towards the goal.

Though the club team has been around for about 15 years, the Quakers are only recently beginning to get the recognition and success that they deserve.

Last weekend, the Red and Blue started the season off strong, competing in their first set of matches against Indiana University of Pennsylvania and No. 17 Penn State -- last year's division champions.

The Quakers demolished the Indians, 15-5 and 12-2, and split the games with the Nittany Lions, winning Saturday's competition, 9-8, and falling on Sunday, 6-3.

"The seniors had never beaten Penn State," Penn freshman Sarah Dotters-Katz said. "I think they underestimated us coming in."

The victory over Penn State gave the Red and Blue the confidence they will need throughout the year.

"It was a really big deal for us," Dotters-Katz said. "It set a precedent for the season."

The Quakers finished fourth in their division last year and are eyeing a move up in the standings.

"We actually have a really good chance of finishing first or second in our division this year," Penn coach Chris Lee said.

Lee is a Penn senior who also plays for the men's club water polo team.

The momentum the Quakers gained after their successful opening weekend will have to last the team for a while. Penn has over a month to prepare for its next meet of the season scheduled for the weekend of April 6 in State College, Pa.

The long hiatus should also give the tireless Quakers the opportunity to hone their skills.

This year's team boasts a number of athletes that are new to the sport.

Facilitating the new players adaptation to the grueling pace of play is the requisite desire to work hard and engage in the practice session.

"Anyone can play," Lee said. "That's just the kind of environment we have,we just teach them how to play."

Yet, it is not necessary for Lee to teach all of the players -- especially many of this year's new athletes.

"Our incoming class is really strong," Lee said. "We have a couple of ex-swimmers, a bunch of freshmen who are pretty good, and some grad students who have played before."

While this is her first season in collegiate play, Dotters-Katz has been one of the bright spots for the Quakers in the early going. The Eugene, Ore. native played competitively at South Eugene High School and emerged as Penn's top scoring threat in last weekend's matches. Against PSU and IUP, the freshman tallied nine goals to lead Penn.

Dotters-Katz's rise on the Penn club team may stem from the fact that she is from water polo's Mecca. While in collegiate sports on the east coast water polo plays second fiddle, on the west coast it is all the rage.

In addition to Dotters-Katz, a number of other current Penn players on the women's water polo team hail from the western United States.

"The east coast has field hockey and lacrosse," Dotters-Katz said. "The west coast has water polo."

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