The Cal women’s water polo team has been selected to represent the United States at the 2013 Universiade, better known as the World University Games.
The Bears, who ended last season ranked No. 4 in the nation but failed to make an appearance at the NCAA tournament, kicked off the games on Saturday. Cal fell to Hungary for the first match of the games, losing 12-5.
Only senior Ashley Young and juniors Tiera Schroeder and Missy Hale scored for the Bears. Sophomore Kathleen Menz and incoming freshman Kelsey Roland split goalie time, each coming up with three saves. Cal’s next game will take place on Monday against France.
The Universiade, a combination of the words University and Olympiad, is an international multisport event organized for university students by the International University Sports Federation. The 2013 games, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade, are being held in Kazan, Russia, this year from July 6 to 17.
The World University Games constitute the second largest sporting competition in the world, with more than 13,500 student-athletes from more than 170 countries around the globe competing in 27 different sports.
Much like the Olympics, the Bears took part in an opening ceremony, and they represented the United States along with U.S. athletes from different sports. Although games did not start until July 6, Russia formally introduced the United States to the games with a ceremony on the Fourth of July, starting with the raising of the American flag.
During the games, the athletes reside in the athlete village with students from all over the world, similar to the village athletes stay in during the Olympics. Unlike the Olympics, the summer games will feature other nontraditional sports, such as belt wrestling and chess.
The Bears have 13 of their current players in Russia for the games, marking the first year U.S. water polo is sending a singular team rather than a team composed of players from different institutions. Cal will be competing against seven other teams from around the world — Italy, Russia, Japan, Canada, France, Australia and Hungary.
Head Coach Rich Corso has selected nine returners and four incoming freshmen for Russia. Freshmen Emily Loughlin, Kelsey Roland, Brigitta Games and Stephanie Mutafyan all have some previous exposure to national competition, as all four were members of the U.S. Youth National Team.
The rest of the team is also composed mostly of underclassmen — four sophomores, four juniors and only one senior. Two other current Cal players, Kelly McKee and Michelle Caron, are also in Russia, playing with Team Canada.
Corso also has prior experience at the Olympic-level games, having served as the U.S. men’s Olympic water polo team from 1992 to 1996, leading that team to a gold medal at the 1995 Pan American games.
For the Bears, the medal ceremony will take place on the last day of the games, July 16, when the final two matches of the games will be played for gold, silver and bronze medals.
Alicia Fong covers women’s water polo. Contact her at [email protected]