April 25, 2012

Contact:

Steve Marovich, Sports Information Director (262) 551-5740

E-Mail: stevemarovich@tds.net or carthagesid@carthage.edu

Carthage Web Page:  http://athletics.carthage.edu/index.aspx

Carthage 24-Hour Sports Hotline (262) 551-5388

Women’s Water Polo Finishes Sixth at CWPA Division III Tournament;

Mari Paraskevopoulos Named Second-Team All-Conference

2012 CWPA Division III Tournament:  The Carthage College women's water polo team (5-9) finished sixth at the 2012 Collegiate Water Polo Association's Division III Tournament at Grove City College's James E. Longnecker Pool in Grove City, Pa.  In pool-play games, No. 8 seed Chatham University (4-10) edged No. 9 Penn State-Behrend (0-19), 9-8; No. 2 seed Washington & Jefferson College (10-4) defeated No. 7 Utica College (4-12), 12-5; No. 3 seed Wheaton College (Ill., 10-5) nipped No. 6 Carthage (4-8), 4-3; No. 5 seed Connecticut College (8-9) defeated No. 4 Macalester College (7-12), 6-3; top-seeded Grove City (16-8) crushed Chatham (4-11), 19-2; Carthage (5-8) defeated Utica (4-13), 12-8; Washington & Jefferson (11-4) defeated Wheaton (Ill., 10-6), 9-7; Macalester (8-12) defeated Penn State Behrend (0-20), 12-4; Grove City (17-8) defeated Connecticut College (8-10), 13-3; Macalester (9-12) defeated Chatham (4-12) by a 17-7 margin; and Utica (5-13) defeated Penn State-Behrend (0-21), 14-9. 

Utica (6-13) defeated Chatham (4-13) for seventh place, 7-6; Macalester (10-12) defeated Carthage (5-9), 10-4, in the fifth-place match; Connecticut (9-10) defeated Wheaton (Ill., 10-7), 11-4, for third place, and top-seeded Grove City (18-8) defeated second-seeded Washington & Jefferson (11-4), 10-3, in the championship match.  Carthage's Mari Paraskevopoulos (Sr., Mount Prospect, Ill./Arlington Heights-Hersey) was named Collegiate Water Polo second-team Association All-Division III Conference and was named to the all-tournament team.

All-Conference:  Carthage's Mari Paraskevopoulos (Sr., Mount Prospect, Ill./Arlington Heights-Hersey) was named Collegiate Water Polo second-team Association All-Division III Conference.

The Coach:  Andy Bax completed his first year as head coach in 2012 (5-9, 1 year).  Bax served as a Carthage student assistant coach in 2010 and 2011 and in the same capacity for the 2010 swimming team.  A native of Naperville, Ill., and an all-state high school water polo player at Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, Ill., Bax was a four-year member of the Carthage swimming team between 2006 and 2009.  He earned All-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin honors three-straight years from 2007 to 2009.  Bax graduated in 2010 with a bachelor’s in elementary education and special education.

The Polls:  Pomona-Pitzer Colleges was ranked first in the final 2012 Collegiate Water Polo Association’s NCAA Division III poll, followed by the University of Redlands second, Occidental College third, California Lutheran University fourth, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College fifth, the University of La Verne sixth, Chapman University seventh, Whittier College eighth, Grove City College ninth and Washington & Jefferson College ranked 10th.

Collegiate Water Polo Association Adds an NCAA III Tier:  In December 2009, the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), the largest single-sport athletic conference in North America, announced the creation of a women's varsity NCAA Division III structure within the organization.   Comprised of Carthage College, Chatham University, Connecticut College, Grove City College, Macalester College, Penn State-Behrend, Utica College, Washington & Jefferson College and Wheaton College (Ill.), the nine-team organization will compete for a berth to the self-funded Division III National Collegiate Championship. 

The change marks the first time an NCAA conference has divided its membership based on institutional affiliation without an NCAA Division II or III championship in the sport.  Women's water polo, which is an NCAA non-divisional sport, features only one championship event with five automatic qualifiers from the Collegiate Water Polo Association, the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), along with three at-large selections from among the remaining eligible conference and independent teams.  Carthage, Macalester and Wheaton (Ill.), which were NCAA independent institutions prior to joining the CWPA for 2009-10.  "The realignment for the NCAA Division III varsity women's teams within the CWPA will be a great benefit to the student-athletes involved," noted CWPA Commissioner Dan Sharadin.

April 20-21 CWPA Division III Tournament Notes:  In the win over Utica that advanced the Lady Reds into the fifth-place game, Mari Paraskevopoulos (Sr., Mount Prospect, Ill./Arlington Heights-Hersey) scored four goals.  In the Lady Reds' 10-4 loss in the fifth-place match, Carthage fell behind Macalester, 4-1, after the first period, 5-3 at halftime and 8-3 after the third period.