Water polo grinds it out in the pool

It may have been a hot weekend in Akron but the Oberlin Wharf Ratties kept "in the swim of things" in the pool. Serious headway was made in the fight for the conference title, the goal of the season. Coaches Scott Remley and Jeremy Steinhauer have reportedly, "never been so proud of our squad before."

Grueling and serious play rewarded our boys and girls in the end, defeating Ball State mercilessly and beating out Kalamazoo State in a close match and University of Akron in overtime, losing only to nationally ranked Notre Dame, a known recruiter whose coaches are rumored to be considering recommending our own players for national recognition.

The play this weekend is impossible to describe here, but from a firsthand point of view I can tell anyone interested in seeing the ancient sport in action that our boys and girls are some of the most intense and entertaining around.

Our hole-man, junior Mitch Mayner had the tournament high 28 goals, one of them at .03 seconds to put the team into overtime against Akron. The most powerful and deciding factor in the tournament was play by rookie goalie first-year Rahula Strohl, the cornerstone of the Ratties improving but flawed defense and its fast break centered offense.

Jesse Carew is a member of the men's water polo team