2008 Carthage Women’s Water Polo Season Review/2009 Season Outlook

The Carthage College women’s water polo team (24-10), coached by Luke Payette (39-41, 3 years), completed its third season of varsity competition in 2008 and qualified for its first Collegiate Division III Water Polo Tournament.  The Lady Reds finished sixth at the national event, which was conducted at Connecticut College in New London, Conn. 

Carthage qualified for the tournament by winning the Midwest Regional Water Polo Tournament with an 8-7 decision over Colorado College in the championship match at Colorado College.  At the national tournament, Carthage lost to Grove City College, 8-6, in the fifth-place match.  The Lady Reds went 2-2 in pool play, losing to California-Santa Cruz. 13-4, and losing to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College, 14-7, before defeating Connecticut College, 8-6, and edging Colorado College, 7-6. 

Carthage’s Rose Schiavone (graduated-senior, Mount Prospect, Ill./Prospect, 65 goals) was named Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches honorable mention All-America and the regional-tournament “most valuable player.”  Patti Blatter (Jr., Prospect Heights, Ill./Wheeling, 41 goals) joined Schiavone on the regional first team, while Kimmy Genian (So., Gurnee, Ill./Highland Park, team-leading 75 goals) was named honorable mention all-regional.  Blatter and Genian return in 2009, along with Jessica Shopiro (Jr., Buffalo Grove, Ill./Lincolnshire-Stevenson, 45 goals), Michelle Mulhall (So., Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg, 37 goals) and Amanda Croix (Fr., Bradley, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais, 11 goals).

Carthage competes as an independent but is eligible to participate in the NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championship.  The NCAA sponsors an all-division championship for water polo.  A total of 61 schools sponsor women’s water polo as a varsity sport.  Of those 61 schools, 31 are at the NCAA Division I level, 10 at Division II, and 20 are NCAA Division III affiliates.  The only other NCAA Division III water polo programs in the Midwest or Mideast regions are CCIW-member Wheaton College (Ill.), Grove City College and Macalester College.