 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
- 1996: 25-10. 2nd Big 10, 2nd Midwest Region, 12th place National Championships.
- 1997: 18-10. 3rd Big 10, 3rd Midwest Region
- 1998: 18-16. 3rd Big 10, 3rd Midwest Region
- 1999: 20-16. 3rd Big 10, 3rd Midwest Region
- 2000: 2nd place National Championships
- 2001: 1st Big 10, 1st place National Championships
- 2002: 1st Big 10, 1st place National Championships
- 2003: 1st Big 10, 2nd place National Championships
- 2004: 1st Big 10, 6th place National Championships
- 2005: 1st Big 10, 3rd place National Championships
- 2006: 1st Big 10, 1st place National Championships
The MSU Women’s Water Polo team was founded as an official club team at MSU in 1993 by a group of female athletes who sought an opportunity to have a team independent of the existing men’s water polo club team. Since then, the MSU Women’s Water Polo team has rapidly built a winning tradition. In only the team’s second year, MSU finished second in the Big 10 conference and in the Midwest region. Since then, MSU has finished no lower than third in the Big 10 and Midwest. We also have competed at the National Championships in 1994 (hosted at the University of Michigan) and 1996 (at UC Davis). We have been the third-winningest team in the Midwest since our inception, behind only Michigan and Indiana University, which are both now varsity. We have been ranked in the US Water Polo Top 20 in every year-end poll since 1994, ahead of most varsity programs, and are one of the top 3 club programs in the country.
The MSU Women’s Water Polo club’s success has been buoyed by the coincident emergence of women’s water polo as a popular high school sport in the state of Michigan. The first Michigan High School state tournament was in 1993, with 5 club teams competing. In 1998, approximately 30 teams (half of which are now varsity programs) competed for the right to play in the 8-team tournament. All but 3 of the players on the 1999 roster had played water polo for a Michigan high school.
Current and past Lady Spartans have won numerous individual honors, including All-American (2), Big 10 MVP (3), Midwest MVP (2), Olympic Festival members (3), and countless All-Tournament awards. Erika Orns earned All-American Status for the second straight year in 1999. We also have hosted some of the most successful invitational and championship tournaments, including the Big 10 Championships in 1995 and 1999 and the US Olympic Festival tryouts in 1995.
MSU Women’s Water Polo players have also seen considerable success in the classroom and after graduation. To date, 10 current and past Lady Spartans have received All-Academic honors from United States Water polo, and 8 more received the honor in 1999. The team GPA is consistently 3.0 or higher despite the varsity-like travel schedule to which our team has committed. Members of the team have gone on to be teachers, lawyers, engineers, and successful members of the business community.
Throughout the year the team incurs many expenses traveling to tournaments. Included are entry fees, lodging, rental vans, food and miscellaneous equipment (suits, balls). All of these expenses are paid by the team members and subsidized by fundraising. Our coach and assistant travel along with our roster of 25 girls on a volunteer basis.
