A&M opens home water polo tournament against rival UT

March 24, 2022

Senior Hannah Vacek takes a shot during a scrimmage between Texas A&M’s A and B teams on March 2.

The No. 1-ranked Texas A&M women’s water polo team will host a home tournament March 26-27 after the A Team defeated the University of Texas last month.
The women’s team last faced the Longhorns at the Rice University tournament in Houston Feb. 19-20. The Aggies’ A Team beat the Longhorns 11-7 after the Aggies’ B Team suffered a 12-2 loss. The maroon and white are currently ranked No. 1 in the Club Texas Division, with the Longhorns No. 2, and will host a home tournament that begins Saturday at the A&M Student Recreation Center Natatorium.
The A Team will open the home club tournament against UT at 11:30 a.m. They will also play Texas State on Saturday and double up against Rice and the University of North Texas on Sunday.
“We start the tournament off with a bang against UT,” senior Julia Klein, club president and goalie, said. “It’s going to be the best game of the tournament.”
The team will be honoring the seniors before the game, Klein said.
“They unfortunately only got about two real seasons of their college career, so it will be nice to have one last game at home,” Klein said.
It is also Klein’s last season after playing water polo for almost 10 years.
“The biggest game is definitely going to be our first game against UT,” junior center Emily Traynor said. “They are our biggest competition for nationals.”
Traynor said the last time they played the Longhorns, it was a close game in the beginning, but the Aggies pulled away with an 11-7 victory. She said she hopes the A&M fan base comes out and cheers them on as they take on the Longhorns again.
“Our team’s strength versus them is definitely our outside shooters,” Traynor said. “UT doubles up center, forcing shots from the outside. They drop with one or two people, which leaves a lot of people open to shoot and we take advantage of that, and we put them away every time.”
The Aggies forced the Longhorns to shoot from the perimeter, Traynor said, but their goalies shut them down.
“We are super excited to come back to A&M and actually play a tournament at home for the first time in a very long time,” junior goalie Corine Kaderli said.
The Longhorns do not have a center player as strong as the Aggies’ starting center, Kaderli said, but UT does have good players.
“We have some fantastic set guards that are really good set defenders,” Kaderli said. “They know how to get around without drawing exclusions.”
After the home tournament, next up is the Texas Division Conference Championships April 9-10 at Rice and the Women’s Club National Championships at Arizona State.
Tournament schedule
TAMU A Team:

Saturday, March 26 @ 11:30 a.m. — A&M “A” vs. Texas
Saturday, March 26 @ 6:30 p.m. — A&M “A” vs. Texas State
Sunday, March 27 @ 11:40 a.m. — A&M “A” vs. Rice
Sunday, March 27 @ 2 p.m. — A&M “A” vs. North Texas

TAMU B Team: