As the No. 8 A&M women’s water polo team prepares to face Baylor in the first Texas season tournament on Feb. 18-19, the team is focused on a return to nationals.
The team is excited to get back in the water and expose the freshmen members to some real competition, environmental engineering graduate student Shaye Smith, the team’s public relations representative, said. The team finished sixth and ended the 2022 season 8-7 overall in the Texas division of the Collegiate Water Polo Association. 2023 Nationals are scheduled for early May, Smith said.
“The biggest challenge will definitely be the lack of exposure to teams outside our conference,” Smith said. “Last year when we went to nationals it was definitely an adjustment to play teams outside of Texas.”
The Baylor women’s club team is joining the Texas division this year, according to the Collegiate Water Polo Association or CWPA. Last season the CWPA Texas Division included The University of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas State and The University of North Texas, according to the website.
“Baylor is joining the conference this year too, which is exciting to see how the conference is growing,” Smith said.
The competition will be held in Waco at the Family YMCA pool on campus, according to the Baylor women’s club team website; start time is TBD. While the team will face the same challenges as last year with new members who lack experience, Smith said players are looking forward to the first competition of the season.
Follow the team @aggiewwp on Instagram.
Abigail Jarrett is a journalism sophomore and contributed this article from the course JOUR 359, Reporting Sports, to The Battalion.