The Bison women’s water polo team traveled to Mercyhurst University to compete in the Mercyhurst Invitational held from Feb. 16-17. The Bison completed a full sweep, going 4-0 against Mercyhurst, McKendree, VMI, and Gannon. With these victories, the team improved their overall record to 10-2.

The Bison began their weekend with a victory against host Mercyhurst, highly impacted by a combined 14 goals from Emily Konishi ’19, Ally Furano ’21, and Sarah Mooney ’19. Jumping on the opposition early with a 6-0 lead, with four of the goals scored by Konishi, the team tacked on another four goals in the second period to give the Bison a 10-3 lead going into the second half. Nina Benson ’20, Larissa Hodzic ’22, Furano, and Mooney each chipped in a goal during the second-period spurt. The Orange and Blue ultimately finished the game with a 21-12 victory.

The team maintained their fast-paced play going into their next matchup of the day against McKendree University. They found themselves in unfamiliar waters with an early two-goal deficit but quickly turned things around by scoring the next nine goals in the first and second period. Furano, Mooney, and Kali Hyham ’21 all chipped in with a goal during the stretch. The team used a 6-0 scoring run in the third period to seal their fate and cruised to a 17-6 win for a 2-0 record on their first day of play. Konishi posted her season-best 10 points on six goals and four assists. She also added four steals and drew two ejections during the game.

On day two of the tournament, the Orange and Blue did not ease up on their competitors. They ran away with a 19-5 victory over VMI thanks to Furano, who netted five goals, and Hyham and Rachel Craig ’22 with four apiece. Furano and Hodzic were able to find the back of the cage early on in the matchup and tacked three goals onto the scoreboard for the Bison. When VMI responded with a goal of their own, the Orange and Blue came back with 15 straight goals before VMI scored again. Konishi had three goals in the contest, and Paige Furano ’22 and Marcela Herrera ’21 also added four and three assists, respectively, for the Bison.

In their last challenge of the day against Gannon, the team was determined to finish the weekend with a sweep. The Orange and Blue started off the game with four goals in three minutes of play from Ally Furano, Hyham, Hodzic, and Konishi. When the Golden Knights came within four, Ally Furano stepped up and led the Bison to an 8-2 lead. Georgia Lewis ’22 made nine saves in the goal for the Bison and held both opponents under 10 goals on the second day of competition.

“This weekend was a great example of what kind of competitors we are,” Molly Teresi ’21 said. “I’m looking forward to keeping it going this weekend and all season as we approach league competition. Hopefully, we keep up our strong performance and work on everything we need to work on…to be successful in the coming tournaments.”

The Bison will have a week off before traveling to the Harvard Invitational on March 2-3.